The World Competitiveness Yearbook 2011 announced at the World Economic Forum ranks South Korea ranks 22nd amongst 142 nations, marking a drop of two notches from the year before.

This is the fourth consecutive year that South Korea’s ranking fell. Since posting eleventh in 2007, South Korea was listed as 13th in 2008, 19th in 2009, and 20th in 2010.

In particular, the nation’s poorest rankings were in transparency of government policy at 128th, trust of politicians at 111th, access to loans at 127th, and cooperation in labor-employment relations at 140th.

Switzerland topped the overall list, followed by Singapore, Sweden, Finland, and the U.S.