These figures were revealed by the president of the National Competitiveness Council, Darko Marinac, who on Wednesday presented the Global Competitiveness Report 2005.
He said the trend was changing and that everything should be done for this to continue.
The Business Competitiveness Index is compiled by the World Economic Forum and this year covered 117 countries as opposed to the 104 ranked in 2004.
The report has been published for the past 26 years and Croatia was ranked for the fourth time.
Croatia is still in the same group as Bulgaria and Romania, which the Growth Competitiveness Index ranked 58th and 67th respectively. Slovenia was ranked 32nd, Estonia 20th, Slovakia 41st, Hungary 39th, the Czech Republic 38th. Macedonia was ranked 85th, Serbia and Montenegro 80th, and Bosnia and Herzegovina 95th.
Marinac said the most significant positive changes in Croatia were the business environment and the quality of public institutions, such as a more independent judiciary, neutral government decisions, the quality of the physical and administrative infrastructure, export in the region, and professional management.
The negative changes regard insufficient investment in research and development, the budget deficit, and foreign investment as a source of new technologies. Inefficient bureaucracy, corruption and an inadequately educated workforce remain the most problematic factors.
The National Competitiveness Council maintains that Croatia's current rank is a positive signal for the launching of European Union entry negotiations and that it reflects the reforms that have been undertaken.
Finland, the United States, and Sweden remain the most competitive economies.