The economic, technological, and digital transformations experienced globally have profoundly reshaped countries’ understanding of competitiveness. In this process, competitiveness has come to represent not only a country’s economic performance but also its institutional governance capacity, innovation strength, and level of technological adaptation. Countries with high competitiveness possess more resilient and flexible economic structures that enable them to pursue sustainable development goals more effectively. For this reason, competitiveness is regarded by contemporary policymakers as a core strategic element that helps balance economic growth, employment, innovation, and environmental sustainability.

This study aims to comparatively evaluate Turkey’s competitiveness performance against that of G7 countries based on data from the 2025 World Competitiveness Index published by the International Institute for Management Development (IMD). The index consists of four main dimensions: economic performance, government efficiency, business efficiency, and infrastructure. Each dimension measures countries’ economic capacity, institutional effectiveness, business dynamism, and adequacy of infrastructure. In this study, Turkey’s performance across each criterion is compared with that of G7 countries. The analysis is conducted using only raw data.

The research employs quantitative data from the IMD 2025 edition, and the findings are visualized through tables and figures, allowing for a clear identification of Turkey’s strengths and weaknesses in terms of competitiveness. According to the results, Turkey’s overall competitiveness score is 40.41, which is significantly below the G7 average. While Turkey ranks at a moderate level in terms of economic performance with a score of 49.16, it records particularly low scores in government efficiency (21.51) and business efficiency (3.78). In the infrastructure dimension, Turkey scores 31.30, indicating limited progress.

These findings suggest that the main factors constraining Turkey’s competitiveness performance include deficiencies in institutional effectiveness, weak managerial predictability, an underdeveloped innovation ecosystem, and the insufficient pace of digital transformation. In particular, the performance gap observed in government efficiency and business efficiency makes it difficult to utilize economic growth potential in a sustainable manner. Furthermore, shortcomings in infrastructure highlight the need for long-term strategic planning in areas such as education, research and development, and green energy investments.

The results of the study indicate that there is a need to strengthen data-driven decision-making processes in public administration and to establish a stronger linkage between Turkey’s macroeconomic indicators and structural reform areas. In conclusion, improving Turkey’s position in the competitiveness index requires not only increasing economic growth rates but also enhancing the quality of institutional governance, accelerating digital transformation investments, expanding sustainable infrastructure projects, and implementing policies aimed at developing qualified human capital. A holistic policy framework developed within this scope would strengthen Turkey’s position in global value chains, support innovation-based production structures, and generate long-term competitive advantages.