TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwan has claimed 12th place out of 141 economies in the Global Competitiveness Report 2019, edging up one slot from last year, according to a report released by the World Economic Forum (WEF).

The top ten competitive countries or areas are Singapore, the United States, Hong Kong, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Japan, Germany, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and Denmark.

Taiwan stands out in the category of "innovation capability," emerging as the fourth most competitive in the world, following Germany, the U.S., and Switzerland. The indicator gauges the quantity and quality of formal research and development as well as the capacity to turn ideas into new goods and services.

Taiwan is also on par with 33 other economies as the most competitive in terms of macroeconomic stability, the report shows. That conclusion was reached by measuring the level of inflation and the sustainability of fiscal policy, according to the report.

The competitive edge of world economies is evaluated based on the Global Competitiveness Index 4.0. The index involves twelve pillars: institutions, infrastructure, ICT adoption, macroeconomic stability, health, skills, product market, labor market, financial system, market size, business dynamism, and innovation capability.