Size and high productivity help make the U.S. the country with the most favorable environment for aerospace manufacturing in the world, according to a new research paper published by accountancy group PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC). The U.S. aerospace industry has seven times the number of suppliers than the number-two ranked country in the report (the UK), helping it overcome what PwC called moderate rankings in the cost and infrastructure/stability/talent categories, where it placed 21st in the world. In the overall cost category, the U.S. stood at 51st, the lowest among the top 10 countries in the report. Meanwhile, the report characterized the U.S. as “competitive” in terms of pay and productivity, ranking it tenth in that category. However, the U.S. remains one of the costliest countries in terms of tax cost, ranking 101st in the world. Finally, the U.S. ranked number 47 in STEM education (science, technology, engineering and math), making it the second weakest among the top 10 countries on the list.
The other countries and territories in the top 10 in PwC’s aerospace manufacturing attractiveness index include, in order of rank, Singapore, Hong Kong, Switzerland, the UK, Canada, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Luxembourg and Ireland. Changes from PwC’s previous analysis saw the addition of Hong Kong, Switzerland, Qatar, the UAE, Luxembourg and Ireland to the top-10 list, while the Netherlands, Germany, Spain, Poland and Belgium all fell out of the top 10 due largely to higher-than-average costs. The report highlighted the addition of the UAE and Qatar, both of which recently have placed more emphasis on their aerospace industries and boast “very low” operating costs and taxes as well as solid infrastructure and educational systems.
Switzerland placed second in the infrastructure, stability and talent category, including a number-one ranking in STEM education. Singapore ranked third in infrastructure, stability and workforce.