South Korea's Digital Competitiveness Ranks 8th Globally... Reenters Top 10 After One Year

Among 27 countries with populations over 20 million, second only to the United States

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Hye-seon] South Korea's digital competitiveness ranked 8th in the world. It recorded the highest global levels in the Electronic Participation Index, internet retail sales, and e-government, and was evaluated as having a well-established business environment where entrepreneurs can take risks and challenge themselves despite failures.

The Ministry of Science and ICT announced on the 28th that South Korea ranked 8th among 63 countries evaluated in the 2022 World Digital Competitiveness Ranking released by the International Institute for Management Development (IMD) in Switzerland. This is a rise of four places compared to last year. South Korea ranked 2nd in the Asia-Pacific region among 14 countries, following Singapore. Among 27 countries with populations over 20 million, it ranked 2nd after the United States. Since 2017, IMD has measured and published national digital competitiveness by evaluating adaptability to digital technology across three areas?knowledge, technology, and future readiness?nine sectors, and 54 detailed indicators.

By country, Denmark, which was 4th last year, rose to 1st place. The United States, which was 1st, dropped one place to 2nd. Following were Sweden, Singapore, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Finland, and South Korea. China fell two places to 17th compared to the previous year, and Japan dropped one place to 29th.

Looking at each sector, South Korea's ranking in the future readiness category rose from 5th to 2nd. It ranked 1st in the new technology adaptability sector. It maintained 1st place in the electronic participation index, and with the activation of non-face-to-face services, internet retail sales rose from 2nd to 1st, while smartphone ownership climbed from 16th to 4th.

With improved perceptions of business conditions, South Korea also ranked 2nd in the business capability sector. The robot usage indicator related to digital transformation ranked 3rd, corporate agility improved from 18th to 16th, and the fear of failure among entrepreneurs?which restricts business startups?improved significantly from 16th to 2nd. Additionally, South Korea maintained 2nd place in the e-government sector and showed an upward trend in IT integration, rising from 16th to 14th, including ranking 6th in the newly introduced government cybersecurity capability indicator.

In the technology sector, South Korea remained at 13th place. The telecommunications investment indicator improved significantly from 44th to 15th, leading to a one-step rise in the capital conditions sector from 16th to 15th, but the regulatory environment sector remained steady at 23rd. The knowledge sector dropped from 15th to 16th. While it scored high in total research and development (R&D) expenditure (2nd) and R&D personnel per capita (3rd), it recorded relatively low rankings in international experience of talent (59th), foreign skilled employees (49th), and female researchers (53rd).

Park Yoon-kyu, 2nd Vice Minister of the Ministry of Science and ICT, stated, "We will faithfully implement the 'Korea Digital Strategy' to realize the digital innovation vision announced by President Yoon Seok-yeol through the recent 'New York Initiative' and continue to improve our digital competitiveness."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.