The WEF explained that the decline in ranking was due in large part to the country's relatively poor performance in terms of technology and innovation, adding that other factors such as lack of adequate infrastructure and centralised economic policy-making also played a part.

"Despite substantial investment and improvement, other countries are progressing faster than Ireland," the Forum observed in the report.

The higher end of the competitiveness scale is dominated by the Nordic countries, according to the WEF, which placed Finland in first place, followed by the United States, Sweden, Taiwan, Denmark and Norway.

The rankings are drawn from the results of the Executive Opinion Survey, a comprehensive survey which this year involved the polling of over 8,700 business leaders in 104 economies worldwide.

The survey questionnaire is designed to capture a broad range of factors affecting an economy’s business environment that are key determinants of sustained economic growth. Particular attention is placed on elements of the macroeconomic environment, the quality of public institutions which underpin the development process, and the level of technological readiness and innovation.