South Korea's global competitiveness ranking remains unchanged in 2012 from a year earlier despite persistent economic uncertainties, an international institute said Thursday.

According to the 2012 World Competitiveness Yearbook unveiled by the International Management Development Institute (IMD), South Korea ranked 22nd in competitiveness among the 59 countries surveyed.

IMD is a Switzerland-based institute that releases competitiveness rankings every year based on countries' economic achievements, infrastructure, and government and corporate efficiency.

South Korea's standing is the highest reached by the country since the world-renowned business school issued related reports in 1997, and represents a steady gain after it placed 29th in 2007, 27th in 2009 and 23rd place in the following year.

The country's ranking in globalization and economic and social reform levels stood at 10th place and 9th place, respectively, in the latest findings.

Of the 26 categories checked by the institute, South Korea finished in the top five in 26 areas such as low long-term unemployment and percentage of people receiving higher education.

IMD added that Asia's fourth-largest economy's ranking in corporate sector efficiency edged up one notch to 25th place, with the country's infrastructure level standing unchanged from the previous year at 20th place.

The report, however, showed the country's ranking in economic growth and government effectiveness sliding to 27th place and 25th place this year. In the 2011 report, the country ranked 25th in terms of economic gains and 22nd in the government efficiency field.

It ranked near the bottom in terms of hiring foreign workers

and labor management relations.

Hong Kong, meanwhile, placed at the top of this year's survey, with the United States coming in second and Switzerland third.

Singapore and Sweden made the top five list, trailed by Canada, Taiwan, Norway, Germany and Qatar.

Among Asian rivals, China's ranking fell to 23rd from 19th, with Japan sliding one notch to 27th place. Venezuela came in at the bottom unchanged from the year before, with Greece, which is suffering from a fiscal debt crisis, standing at 58th place, down two notches from 2011, the report said. (Yonhap News)