Taiwan's stock market grew to NT$15 trillion (US$475 billion) by the end of last year, an increase of 131 percent over the past 10 years, according to the Directorate General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS).
Total capital accounted for 148.07 percent of the nation's GDP, up from 101 percent in 1994, an indication that the stock market plays an increasingly important role in the economy, the DGBAS said.
By the end of last year, 697 companies were listed on the Taiwan Stock Exchange (TSE) and 466 on the over-the-counter (OTC) market, the former having a total capital of NT$5.1 trillion and the latter NT$0.6 trillion.
The capitalization of the TSE by the end of last year was NT$14 trillion, more than double that of a decade earlier. Combined with the OTC, the nation's stock markets had a total value of NT$15.1 trillion, equivalent to 148 percent of GDP.
Taiwan's economy has gradually climbed out of the financial depression caused by the 1997-98 Asian financial crisis, the DGBAS said, registering annual growth of 5.8 percent in 2000, when stock market turnover reached NT$35 trillion. But the bursting of the high-tech bubble in 2000 drove the economy down, dragging stock market turnover down by 40 percent, to NT$20.7 trillion.
Since the beginning of last year the economy has turned around, and stock markets have also fared better. Average earnings per share for companies listed on the TSE and OTC reached NT$2.14 and NT$1.54, respectively. The figure for the TSE marks a six-year high.
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