Taiwan ranked sixth in the 2021 Index of Economic Freedom released March 4 by Washington-based think tank The Heritage Foundation and The Wall Street Journal, receiving its best ever result since the index’s inception.
With a score of 78.6 out of 100—1.5 points higher than the previous year—Taiwan was fourth among 40 economies in the Asia-Pacific, beating out Malaysia, 74.4; Japan, 74.1; South Korea, 74; and China, 58.4. The country was classified as “mostly free” along with 32 other nations.
The top five spots went to Singapore, New Zealand, Australia, Switzerland and Ireland, in that order, with these economies the only ones categorized as “free.”
According to the report, Taiwan saw improvement in eight out of 12 benchmarks used to compile index rankings.
Among these are government integrity and judicial effectiveness, which rose by 5.6 points and 2.8 points year on year to 74.5 and 72.9, respectively, the report said. The former can be attributed to Taiwan’s effective implementation of laws and regulations combating corruption while the latter shows the country’s strong enforcement of contracts and robust court system free of political interference, it added.
In response, the National Development Council said the report demonstrated government efforts to boost economic development and clean governance are receiving global recognition. Other policies in line with the U.N. Convention Against Corruption and the Intellectual Property and Commercial Court Organization Act promulgated in 2020 are further boosting the country’s government integrity and judicial effectiveness, the NDC added.
Beginning in 1995, the annual index tracks the march of economic freedom in 184 markets worldwide spanning government size, open markets, regulatory efficiency and rule of law. (YCH-E)
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