Singapore ranks second in financial literacy list

Guess who beat Singapore by merely 2 points.

In a release by MasterCard, Taiwan and New Zealand tied for first place in the MasterCard Worldwide Index of Financial Literacy, with a score of 73 index points each, with Taiwan jumping up from 5th rank in 2010. Following close behind with 71 index points each are Hong Kong, Australia and Singapore.

Notably, Hong Kong jumped up from 6th position when the survey was conducted in 2010. Thailand, first in the region two years ago, fell 10 rankings to 11th in 2012 with 65 index points. Japan and India ranked at the bottom of the financial literacy rankings with 60 index points each.

Here's more from MasterCard:

New Zealanders (77%) fared the best when asked about basic money management skills such as day-to-day budgeting, keeping up with bills, credit commitments and setting money aside for big purchases, followed by Australia in 2nd (75%) and Hong Kong (72%) moving up one spot from 4th in 2010 to 3rd in 2012.

Hong Kong (68%), Taiwan (67%) and China (65%) topped the investment component of the research. More respondents in these markets understood their bank statements and complex investment concepts such as diversification and inflation.

The MasterCard Worldwide Index of Financial Literacy is based on a survey conducted between 24 April 2012 and 10 June 2012 with 6904 respondents aged 18 – 64 in 14 Asia/Pacific countries. This is the 3rd survey of Financial Literacy conducted since 2010. The survey polled consumers on three aspects of financial literacy including their basic money management skills, investment knowledge and financial planning to determine the level of basic money management skills in terms of budgeting, savings, and responsibility of credit usage. The survey and its accompanying reports do not represent MasterCard financial performance.