Japan placed 31st in IMD’s 2024 World Digital Competitiveness Ranking, an improvement of one spot from last year in the annual survey by the Lausanne, Switzerland-based business school.

The country still struggles with a number of significant challenges that hamper its efforts to become a technological leader, especially in terms of the ability of companies to adapt and the lack of the workers with the right skills and experience, the survey found.

Japan lags far behind other Asian rivals, with Singapore being No. 1 in the 2024 ranking, South Korea No. 6 and Taiwan No. 9. China jumped five positions to 14th place.