According to the World Economic Forum (WEF), the 2018 edition of the report is a milestone as it introduces Global Competitiveness Index 4.0, which "sheds light on an emerging set of drivers of productivity and long-term growth in the era of the Fourth Industrial Revolution".

With the introduction of 4.0 index, significant changes have been made to the methodology, so "the re-stated ranking is therefore not comparable" with that of the previous methodology, WEF said in the previous, 2017-2018 report, when it announced changes.

In that report, Slovenia placed 48th, however, under the new methodology Slovenia ranked 35th, data from this year's report show. This means that it effectively held its spot from last year, although improving its score from 63.4 in the 2017 4.0 index notional results.

Despite the changes, the overall score is still calculated from 12 pillars, with Slovenia ranking 1st alongside 30 other countries in macroeconomic stability.

In business dynamism, it ranked 24th, in product market 27th, in innovation capability 28th and in skills 29th.

Moreover, it ranked 34th in health, 35th in institutions and infrastructure pillars, and 43rd in adoption of information and communications technology and in labour market. The country fared worse in financial stability (60th) and in market size (82nd).

The country also did very well in certain sub-indicators, ranking first in terrorism incidence, electrification, inflation, debt dynamics and cost of starting a business.