Slovenia earned the lowest marks for development of the financial market (118th) and labour market efficiency (85th) and market size (85th), according to the WEF Global Competitiveness Report.

On the other hand, it performed well in health and primary education (16th), higher education (22nd), innovation (33rd), technology (35th) and infrastructure (39th).

The report, released this week, highlights taxes, inefficient public services, restrictive labour laws and political instability as the biggest obstacles in Slovenia.

In the region, Slovenia is behind Austria (19th) and Italy (44th) but ranks higher than Hungary (69th) and Croatia (74th).

Switzerland remains the most competitive economy in the world, followed by Singapore, the US, Netherlands, Germany, Sweden, UK, Japan, Hong Kong and Finland.