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.
