IMD World Digital Competitiveness Ranking 2025:  Taiwan secures top-3 spots in 8 indicators

　The Switzerland-based International Institute for Management Development (IMD) released the 2025 World Digital Competitiveness Ranking (DCR), which assessed 69 major economies and countries worldwide and placed Taiwan in the 10^th place overall among them.  The Ministry of Digital Affairs (“MODA”) stated that among the three key factors, Taiwan delivered a stellar performance in the factor of Future Readiness, leaping to the 3^rd globally and moving forward 3 places from 2024.  In the other two factors, Taiwan finished 11^th in Technology and 16^th in Knowledge globally.  In terms of its overall performances, Taiwan secured top-three rankings in eight indicators, demonstrating its top-tier strength in specific digital sectors.  MODA indicated that it will work in coordination with relevant government agencies to formulate and implement measures for improving Taiwan’s capacity and performance in the indicators, in which Taiwan posted less strong performance, so as to ensure Taiwan’s competitive edge in digital development.

　MODA explained that Taiwan came in the top three in eight indicators, which underscores Taiwan’s strengths in R&D Capacity, Higher Education, and Business Agility as the solid foundation for its development in AI industry and digital transformation.  Among these indicators, Taiwan has remained on top in IT & Media Stock Market Capitalization and ranked 2^nd in the indicators of Total Expenditure on R&D (%), Total R&D Personnel Per Capita, and Agility of Companies.  Moreover, Taiwan secured the 3^rd position in four indicators of Educational Assessment PISA – Math, Higher Education Achievement in Population Aged 25-34, Corporate Agility in Responding to Business Opportunities and Threats, Corporate Proficiency in Using Big Data and Analytics in Decision-Making. 

　IMD Ranking uses three major factors, Knowledge, Technology, and Future Readiness, nine sub-factors, and 61 indicators to assess and grade global economies in terms of their capacity and readiness to adapt to, explore, and fully utilize digital transformation.  

　MODA clarified that the factor, Knowledge, mainly reflects the capacity of the country assessed to learn new technologies.  Taiwan placed 16^th in this factor, up 3 notches from the previous year, while it has stick to the top spot in the Total R&D Expenditure as a Percentage of GDP indicator.  Furthermore, Taiwan saw its improvement in its rankings in the following indicators:  Total R&D Expenditure as a Percentage of GDP, Senior Managers with International Experience, Domestic Business Environment's Ability to Attract Foreign High-Level Talent, Proportion of Scientific and Technical Personnel in the Total Employed Population, Corporate Emphasis on Employee Training, and Percentage of Female Graduates in Higher Education.  Such improvement pinpoints Taiwan’s emphasis on digital and technology talent development in both the academic and employment settings.  MODA will continue advancing digital talent development by partnering with the industry to reinforce youth training and digitally empower cross-disciplinary professionals, and also intensifying efforts to recruit international digital specialists, with an aim to increasing the supply of digital talents that meet the needs of research and development and the industry.  

　The Technology factor is used to evaluate a country’s capacity to develop digital innovation technologies, and Taiwan finished 11^th in this factor.  Taiwan has made improvements in its rankings in the following indicators: Legal Support for Technology Development and Application, Scientific Research Laws That Encourage Innovation, Funding for Technological Development, Telecommunications Investment as a Percentage of GDP, and Communication Technologies (voice and data) Meeting Enterprise Needs. These improvements highlight the results of Taiwan government’s efforts to create a technology-friendly environment and promote the construction and application of 5G networks.  In response to the surge of AI, MODA will be devoted to building a regulatory environment conducive to AI development and applications, reinforcing the implementation of AI industry policies from a product-oriented perspective, and promoting investment in the AI industry so as to improve Taiwan’s performance in global rankings.  

　The Future Readiness factor is used to evaluate the level of a country’s digital transformation, and Taiwan took the 3^rd place in this factor, up 3 spots compared to 2024.  Improvements were also observed in Taiwan’s rankings in such indicators as Corporate Agility in Responding to Business Opportunities or Threats, Corporate Proficiency in Using Big Data and Analytics to Aid Decision-making, Internet Retailing, People's Flexibility and Adaptability to New Challenges, Development and Maturation of Knowledge Transfer between Industry and Academia, Working Population Who Give Up Entrepreneurial Opportunities for Fear of Failure, Public-Private Partnerships That Stimulate Technological Development, and Degree of Legal Protection for Internet User Privacy.  These improvements demonstrate that Taiwan is highly competitive in corporate agility and underscore the Taiwan government’s achievements in public-private technological cooperation and personal data protection and also display the resilience of the people of Taiwan in responding to a rapidly changing environment.  

　MODA also added that relevant ministries will collaborate to address the issues with respect to Taiwan’s less prominent performance in the indicators of Proportion of Female Researchers and Student-to-Faculty Ration in Higher Education as identified in the IMD report.  About the Level of Legalization of AI Policies, MODA has proposed and introduced the Draft Regulations on Promoting the Development of Data Innovation and Utilization and submitted it to the Executive Yuan for review.  Following the passage of the AI Basic Act in its third reading, MODA will promptly introduce an “AI Risk Classification Framework”.  In addition, MODA will work with all government agencies to revise and refine relevant regulations or guidelines affected by the rise of AI and will proactively publish English-language information and materials to continuously reinforce international communication and step up the visibility of Taiwan’s efforts and accomplishments in AI governance.  

　In the future, MODA will continue elevating Taiwan’s strengths in digital development and focusing on the four key pillars, Promoting AI Industry Development, Strengthening Cybersecurity Resilience, Implementing Anti-Fraud Measures, and Enhancing Digital Government Construction in order to accelerate digital innovation and transformation across the public and private sectors and lead the society to a safer, more convenient, and prosperous digital future.  (Released 2025.11.04) 
/CCS