Geneva  - Switzerland on Tuesday replaced the United States in the top place in the World Economic Forum (WEF) ranking of most competitive countries for doing business.

"The United States falls one place to second position, with weakening in its financial markets and macroeconomic stability," the Geneva-based foundation said.

Singapore, Sweden and Denmark rounded out the first five, followed by Finland, Germany and Japan, which moved up one place. Canada and the Netherlands closed the top 10.

China edged up slightly, from number 30 in 2008 to 29 this year, while Russia dropped from 51 to 63.

The rankings are based on publicly available data and an opinion survey carried out by the WEF, which hosts the annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland of world business and political leaders. (dpa)