Spain

Rank: 25
Last Year's Rank: 23
Score: 47.4

Spain, which slipped two rungs from last year, ranks among the top 20 in human capital and comes in at No. 18 in the area of business environment. But its rank was dragged down by weakness in R&D. In that category it ranks well below several other Western countries. Its R&D score is lower than Malaysia's, though higher than that of Azerbaijan.