Japan slipped to fourth place in a ranking of the most powerful and influential countries in the Asia-Pacific region, according to Japan media.
The Asia Power Index 2024, recently released by the Lowy Institute, scores the combined power of 27 countries and territories in the region using a weighted average of eight areas such as military capability, economic resources, diplomatic influence and cultural influence, which are calculated on 131 indicators.
Japan scored 38.9 out of 100, up 1.6 points from a year ago, while India’s rise of 2.8 points gave it 39.1 points. The other top-10 rankers are Australia at 31.9, Russia at 31.1, South Korea at 31.0, Singapore at 26.4 and Thailand at 19.8. Meanwhile, the United States led with 81.7 points, followed by China with 72.7 points.
The report found that Tokyo lost 1.4 and 4.2 points in the categories of economic potential and economic relationships respectively, as its technological strength has weakened sharply in the face of competition with South Korea, China and Taiwan.
The trend has “redirected foreign investment away from the Japanese technology sector” and “contributed to Japan’s declining productivity.” On the other hand, Japan saw a 13.1-point increase in “defence nets,” with the report citing Tokyo’s pledge in 2022 to increase defence spending to 2 percent of its gross domestic product over five years, as well as holding “most joint exercises with non-allied countries” from 2022 to 2023.
Japan, long suffering from a low birth rate and an ageing population, dropped to third position for the first time since the Sydney-headquartered independent organisation began publishing its annual assessment in 2018.
