Taiwan Today
Date: February 16, 2017

Taiwan achieved its best ever ranking in the Index of Economic Freedom, climbing three

Taipei 101, one of the world’s tallest buildings, stretches skyward, symbolizing Taiwan’s improved performance in the 2017 Index of Economic Freedom released Feb. 15 by Washington-based think tank The Heritage Foundation. (Courtesy of Taipei 101)

spots to No. 11 out of 180 economies, according to the annual report’s compiler Washington-based think tank The Heritage Foundation Feb. 15.

With a score of 76.5 out of 100, up 1.8 points from the 2016 edition, Taiwan was categorized as “mostly free” along with 86 other economies, including the U.K. at No. 12 and the U.S. at No. 17. In the Asia-Pacific region comprising 43 economies, it came in at No. 5, ahead of South Korea at No. 23 and Japan at No. 40.

Hong Kong, Singapore, New Zealand, Switzerland and Australia topped the report in that order, with the five countries the only ones classified as “free.” North Korea, Venezuela and Cuba claimed the bottom three spots in that order with a classification of “repressed.”    [FULL  STORY]