The country scored an average of 61.5 points, above than the world average of 61, according to the 2019 Global Competitiveness Index 4.0 report released Tuesday by the World Economic Forum (WEF).

The report compared 141 countries and territories around the world based on 103 key indicators grouped in 12 pillars, including institutions, infrastructure, adoption of information and communication technology (ICT), macroeconomic stability, labor market, financial system and market size.

However, despite the substantial improvement in this year’s ranking, Vietnam remained far behind its Southeast Asian neighbors like Singapore (1st), Malaysia (27th), Thailand (40th), Indonesia (50th) and the Philippines (64th).

In Southeast Asia, Vietnam only stood above Cambodia (106th) and Laos (113th).

The report also said Vietnam scored highest in the factors of health (81 points, ranked 71st), macro-economic stability (75 points, 64th) and market size (72 points, 26th).

The country’s innovation capability was the weakest among 12 factors used in determining the economy’s competitiveness index, at just 37 points, ranked 76th.

Singapore became the world’s most competitive economy in 2019, overtaking the U.S., which fell to second place. Hong Kong came in third, followed by the Netherlands and Switzerland.