Israel remains in the 17th place among the world's 59 leading economies in terms of competitiveness, according to the 2011 World Competitiveness Yearbook of the International Institute Management Development in Lausanne, Switzerland.

Facts & Figures Israeli economy grows 4.7% in Q1 Avital Lahav Rise in GDP lower than 7.6% growth in last quarter of 2010, but matches Bank of Israel's forecast Israeli economy grows 4.7% in Q1

This year's list is led by Hong Kong, the United States, Singapore, Sweden and Switzerland. Bulgaria, Greece Ukraine and Croatia were placed at the bottom of the ranking, with Venezuela in the last place. Israel received a score of 81.6.

The Israeli economy ranked first in the central bank's positive impact and is the world's top investor in research and development, similar to 2010, but ranked only 54th in workforce participation.

Israel fell in the level of dependence between supporting and dependent population from the 56th place to the 58th, and in the cost of living ranking from the 47th place to the 49th.

In the technological infrastructure category, Israel went up to the fourth place from the fifth place in 2010.