Cover The world’s most competitive Asian economies are Singapore (1st), Hong Kong (5th) and Taiwan (8th) (Photo: Getty Images)
The world’s most competitive Asian economies are Singapore (1st), Hong Kong (5th) and Taiwan (8th) (Photo: Getty Images)
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Singapore climbed three spots to become the world’s most competitive economy, according to an annual ranking by IMD. Hong Kong rose to fifth place while Taiwan dropped to number eight
Singapore took this year’s top spot as the world’s most competitive economy, moving up three places from last year, according to the IMD World Competitiveness Ranking 2024 released on June 2018. Hong Kong took the fifth place, climbing two places and Taiwan, the only other Asian economy in the top ten, dropped two spots to the eighth place.
Established by the International Institute for Management Development (IMD)—an academic and business institution founded in Switzerland—the ranking assesses competitiveness as the measure of how well economies generate wealth for their citizens. The IMD looks at factors such as economic performance, government efficiency, business efficiency and infrastructure and uses both statistical data and executive opinion surveys sent to companies across 67 economies—12 of which are in Asia—to create the ranking.
Many Asian economies such as China, South Korea and Indonesia climbed through the ranks significantly but Malaysia dropped seven spots to get the 34th place.
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The world’s most competitive economies, their scores and ranking change compared to last year, according to the ranking:
1. Singapore (100.00) ⇧3
2. Switzerland (97.55) ⇧1
3. Denmark (97.07) ⇩2
4. Ireland (91.86) ⇩2
5. Hong Kong (91.49) ⇧2
6. Sweden (91.30) ⇧2
7. UAE (89.75) ⇧3
8. Taiwan (88.50) ⇩2
9. Netherlands (86.94) ⇩4
10. Norway (86.22) ⇧4
Here are also the most significant changes in Asian economies from last year:
14. China (81.04) ⇧7
20. South Korea (75.92) ⇧8
25. Thailand (72.51) ⇧5
27. Indonesia (71.52) ⇧7
34. Malaysia (68.13) ⇩7
And here are other Asian economies who were ranked:
35. Kazakhstan (66.03) ⇧2
38. Japan (64.96) ⇩3
39. India (62.86) ⇧1
52. The Philippines (52.64) -
Khoa Tran is Social Impact Editor at Tatler Hong Kong. He covers stories touching on sustainability, entrepreneurship, philanthropy and diversity. Trained as a lawyer, Khoa’s work as a writer had previously touched up topics such as regulatory compliance, ESG, and banking. Outside of the office, he enjoys rock climbing and relaxing in jazz clubs.
