Slovenia scored 53.8 points, and fared best in terms of governance efficiency, trailing only Ireland and the Czech Republic.

Governance efficiency measures the results of core state areas and investments - infrastructure, market and employment structure, and the provision of a framework for sustained and sustainable wealth generation.

In the field of intellectual capital - the capability to generate wealth and jobs through innovation and value-added industries in the globalised markets - Slovenia ranks 13th.

Its ranking in social capital - health, security, freedom, equality and life satisfaction within a country - is 14th.

Slovenia meanwhile performed much worse in terms of resource management - the efficiency of using available resources as a measurement of operational competitiveness - placing 84th among the 180 countries.

It fared the worst in natural capital - the given natural environment, including the availability of resources, and the level of the depletion of those resources, placing 94th.

The index for 2019 is topped by the Nordic countries - Sweden is first with 60.6 points, followed by Finland, Iceland, Denmark and Switzerland. Placed at the bottom of the list are Yemen, Haiti and The Bahamas.