Taiwan has retained its spot as the 14th most economically free country out of 186 economies in the world. That’s according to the US-based Heritage Foundation’s Index of Economic Freedom for 2016.
Taiwan’s National Development Council said Taiwan ranks 5th in Asia in economic freedom, ahead of Japan, South Korea and China. The council said Taiwan improved in the area of government spending. But financial freedom has fallen by a big margin due to a rise in the personal income tax rate from 40% to 45% last year.
Taiwan has experienced marked improvement in economic freedom in the last eight years, moving from 35th place in 2009 to the current 14th. Its biggest improvement is in business freedom, which is a quantitative measure of the ability to open, operate and close a business. Taiwan recently abolished its capital requirements for setting up a business. Centralized issuance of construction permits also contributed to further business freedom in Taiwan.