Malta has slipped one place in the World Economic Forum’s competitiveness index for 2015-2016.

The country is now ranked 48 out of 140 economies, compared to 47 the previous year. The new ranking follows a further slip of six places from 41 in 2013.

Among advanced economies, only four countries – Slovenia, Slovakia, Cyprus and Greece – rank lower than Malta in this year’s index.

The annual report, which will be released today, is an assessment of the factors driving productivity and prosperity across the world, including the strength of national institutions, infrastructure and macro-economic environment.

Malta was given an overall score of 4.4 on a scale of seven, compared to 5.8 for leaders Switzerland.

Read more in the Times of Malta.