TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwan is ranked the 2nd “most loved” country in Asia due to its democracy, friendliness, and high respect.
The New York-based finance website Insider Monkey on Friday (May 31) released a list titled “20 Most Loved Countries in Asia.” Malaysia ranked first, and Taiwan took second, besting regional rivals such as Singapore, Japan, the Philippines, and South Korea.
The ranking was based on an analysis of its five previous articles on countries in Asia, and each of the five metrics was assigned weights. The first three articles, which cover aspects such as most respected, friendliest, and most visited, were given 75% weight, and 25% was allotted to countries in the two articles on diversity and “democratic credentials.”
As for Malaysia's 1st place listing, the author said it ranks 8th in the category of "most respected," 5th for “most visited,” and 2nd among the "friendliest countries." For “most diverse” Malaysia placed 14th, while among the “most democratic” countries in Asia, it was listed 6th with an overall score of 0.701.
As for Taiwan's 2nd place rating, the country received a high respect rank of 2 and a friendliness score of 7, but it placed 20th for most visited. Taiwan took first place for democracy but came in 20th place for diversity.
Taiwan received an overall score of 0.595, just edging out Singapore, which scored 0.593.
Insider Monkey pointed out that Taiwan is a “highly developed free-market economy,” rated by the World Bank and IMF as an “advanced economy” with a per capita GDP of US$72,490 (NT$2.349 million) in 2023. The report also mentioned that Taiwan is the most democratic country in Asia, and its people are “cordial” to foreigners.
