Canada has outranked the United States for the most competitive economy for the first time in history, according to Swiss-based business school IMD's annual world rankings.

Canada claimed spot number 8 in the rankings, while the U.S. came in at number 10.

The U.S. slipped seven places since it came in at number 3 last year, representing the country's worst performance in decades — and the first time that Canada has ever scored higher than our neighbours to the south.

IMD's world competitiveness rankings for 2020

The survey — which has been running since 1989 — takes into account knowledge, available technology and future readiness when determining a country's ranking.

Canada's recent economic success can be attributed to the "improvements in measures related to its labor market and in the openness of its society," per the IMD report.

The U.S. economy, on the other hand, has been damaged by the country's ongoing trade war with China; the report notes that China similarly dropped in the rankings, falling from number 14 to number 20 this year.

Which small economies were in the top three this year? What are the surprise changes since last year, and what factors might explain them? 🌎🌍🌏

Discover the IMD World Competitiveness Center 2020 ranking: https://t.co/4QFnEbroMD#IMDImpact #worldcompetitiveness pic.twitter.com/M0iHTlftR6

— Institute for Management Development (IMD) (@IMD_Bschool) June 16, 2020

Singapore claimed the top spot for the second year in a row. Denmark, Switzerland, the Netherlands and Hong Kong SAR claimed the next top slots, respectively.

Arturo Bris, director of IMD's Competitiveness Centre, noted that most of the countries in the top 10 are small economies.

"The benefit of small economies in the current crisis comes from their ability to fight a pandemic and from their economic competitiveness," Bris said in the release. "In part these may be fed by the fact it is easy to find social consensus."