Taiwan has moved up one spot to seventh place in the latest world competitiveness rankings, according to a yearbook released Wednesday by the International Institute for Management Development (IMD).

Taiwan’s seventh place ranking, its highest in the World Competitiveness Yearbook since 2013, also meant it remained the third most competitive economy in Asia, behind Singapore and Hong Kong, according to the IMD.

Over the past four years, Taiwan has ranked 17th, 16th, 11th and eighth in the IMD rankings.

Among the four indicators used to compile the rankings, Taiwan ranked sixth in business efficiency, eighth in government efficiency, 11th in economic performance, and 13th in infrastructure, the IMD said.

Despite a one-spot improvement in both of the first two categories and an unchanged ranking on infrastructure, Taiwan fell five spots in economic performance, which the National Development Council (NDC) attributed to the negative impact of COVID-19.

The retreat was a result of both tightened disease controls in Taiwan last year that hurt the economy and its relatively high baseline compared to other countries in 2020, the NDC said in a news release Wednesday.

According to the NDC, the challenges Taiwan faces in 2022 include promoting sustainable development, technology innovation and a digital transition, as well as deepening international cooperation to strengthen economic resilience.

Denmark led this year’s rankings, followed by Switzerland, Singapore, Sweden, Hong Kong, the Netherlands, Taiwan, Finland, Norway and the United States.

China ranked 17th, while South Korea ranked 27th.

Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel