The World Economic Forum (WEF) has released its latest Global Competitiveness Report, an annual assessment of the factors driving productivity and prosperity in 140 nations around the world.

Overall, Asia is faring well, weathering declines in commodity pricing better than emerging economies elsewhere in the world.

China is still the best performer among the world’s larger emerging markets, holding steady at 28^th in the WEF’s global competitiveness index (GCI).

India’s star, meanwhile, is starting to shine again, ending years of decline with a dazzling 16-place jump to 55^th.

The picture in Southeast Asia is mostly positive but more mixed, although the five largest members of Asean – Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines and Vietnam – all rank in the top half of the overall GCI rankings.

Asia is home to some world class developed economies too, with Singapore, Hong Kong and Japan all placed within the global top ten.

The WEF looks at 12 categories to gauge a country’s competitiveness: institutions; infrastructure; macroeconomic environment; health and primary education; higher education and training; goods market efficiency; labour market efficiency; financial market development; technological readiness; market size; business sophistication; and innovation.

Our slideshow picks out two, technological readiness and innovation, as well as overall global competitiveness and IP protection, a subset within institutions.

For more, the full report is available on the WEF’s website.