Jun. 28 – China and India claim the world’s first and second most competitive manufacturing industries, respectively, and it will remain that way for at least the next five years, according to a new global manufacturing competitiveness index published in a joint report by Deloitte LLP and the U.S. Council on Competitiveness.

The report, which surveyed over 400 CEOs and top level manufacturing executives worldwide,  was conducted during late 2009 and early 2010. The results show dominance in perceived manufacturing competitiveness in Asia, where respondents believe China, India, and South Korea deserve the top three spots both presently and five years from now.

“China and India have been emerging as global leaders in manufacturing for a number of years now, and this survey highlights the increasing dominance that these two major economies will continue to have over the remainder of this decade,” said David Raistrick, head of the U.K. manufacturing group at Deloitte.

In comparison, survey participants foresee a decline in competitiveness across many traditional, Western manufacturing nations like the United States and Germany. Respondents indicated that they expect Brazil to overtake the United States in five years as the world’s fourth most competitive manufacturing market.

To construct the index, those surveyed were first asked to rank the influence of 10 various market and government forces on manufacturing competitiveness. The respondents placed labor, costs, and energy as the most important drivers of competitiveness, as can be seen in the table below.

The survey’s respondents were then asked to rank the level of competitiveness perceived in the manufacturing industries of 26 countries, both at present and in five years time. Through the collected responses, analysts at Deloitte and the U.S. Council on Competitiveness established a present and forecasted global manufacturing competitiveness index for the 26 listed counties. The top 12 can be seen in the table below.