South Korea ranked 12th among the world's 20 major economies in terms of readiness for the Internet of Things technology, a report showed Monday.

Asia's fourth-largest economy was given 52.2 points out of 100 in the National Absorptive Capacity index for IoT, according to the report released by market researcher Accenture. A higher number indicates a more IoT-friendly environment.

The United States took the top spot at 64 points, trailed by Switzerland with 63.9 points and Finland with 63.2 points. Sweden, Norway and the Netherlands followed at 62.4 points, 61.8 points and 59 points, respectively.

Japan was the only Asian country in the top 10 at 54.4 points.

IoT is a concept in which all tangible objects are connected to the Internet and can identify themselves to other devices to exchange necessary data for improved efficiency and convenience.

The sector is seen as becoming the key area of focus for the global technology industry, and South Korean tech players have been competing to adopt the concept in their business plans for 2015. Samsung Electronics Co., the country's biggest tech firm, said last month it plans to inject $100 million into funding start-ups and developers of the IoT technologies and connect all of its products to the IoT network by 2020.

Accenture expected the IoT to account for around $14.2 trillion of the world's gross domestic product by 2030. (Yonhap)