Taiwan moved up two spots to 6th in the latest World Competitiveness Ranking 2025 published June 17 by Switzerland-based International Institute for Management Development, according to the National Development Council.
In a survey of 69 major economies worldwide, Switzerland topped the list, followed by Singapore, Hong Kong, Denmark and the United Arab Emirates in that order. Taiwan placed ahead of regional neighbors Australia, 18th; Malaysia, 23rd; South Korea, 27th and Thailand, 30th.
The NDC said this marks the fifth year in a row that Taiwan was rated first among economies with a population of more than 20 million people.
Among the four major factors used to gauge an economy’s overall competitiveness, Taiwan ranked 10th in Economic Performance, eighth in Government Efficiency, fourth in Business Efficiency and 10th in Infrastructure.
In analysis of the 262 criteria that made up the overall survey, Taiwan led the world in six criteria including freely elected government, entrepreneurship and sustainable development; ranked second in nine criteria such as economic complexity index, agility of companies and total expenditure on R&D; and third in nine criteria including use of big data analytics, opportunities and threats and medium- and high-tech added-value. These strong showings reflect Taiwan’s vibrant entrepreneurship, qualified personnel pool and research and development prowess, the NDC said.
The government sees the annual rankings as assessment of a country's fundamental economic and social elements and as a valuable policymaking reference. Facing uncertainties such as new U.S. tariff policies and global supply chain restructuring, the government will continue to strengthen economic resilience and global competitiveness to ensure that Taiwan continues to progress amidst global challenges, it added. (SFC-E)
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