Australia has slipped further behind in an annual ranking of country's competitiveness, lagging countries such as New Zealand, Luxembourg and Belgium.

Placing No 22 on the Global Competitiveness Index (GCI), down one slot since last year, the World Economic Forum says Australia "remains far behind the world's innovation powerhouses".

Switzerland, meantime, set a record in global economic competitiveness, holding onto the top spot for the eighth, straight year.

Since Malcolm Turnbull became Australia's prime minister a year ago, the country has further slipped down global rankings of competitiveness. Frank Franklin

Singapore and the US stayed in second and third place. The Netherlands overtook Germany for fourth place, Germany came in fifth and Sweden sixth. "Britain moved up three places to its highest ranking in the past decade" to No. 7, the report said. Completing the top 10 were Japan, Hong Kong and Finland.

While Australia is retreating, New Zealand, by contrast, has climbed three slots in the past year and now stands No. 13 on the list. Canada came in at No.15, Belgium No. 17, Luxembourg at No. 20 and France at No. 21. The GCI results "reveal contrasts" across Asia with the "advanced economies continuing to perform strongly," the report said.