Taiwan ranked 21st in the world in terms of its per capita GDP last year, measured by purchasing power parity (PPP) at US$30,084, an official from the Council for Economic Planning and Development (CEPD) said yesterday.
Citing results from the most recent statistics report released by the World Bank, the official said Taiwan ranked fourth among Asian nations, behind Hong Kong with US$38,180, Japan with US$33,730 and Singapore with US$31,700, but ahead of South Korea with US$23,800.
TALLIES
The World Bank tallies show that the average PPP-adjusted per capita GDP among all nations worldwide was US$9,940, while that of advanced countries alone was US$29,680.
The five top-ranked countries in order were Luxembourg (US$55,970), the US (US$44,260), Norway (US$43,920), Switzerland (US$40,630) and Hong Kong, the official said.
TWO METHODS
There are two methods of calculating each country's per capita GDP, with one using a value denominated in US dollars while the other is the PPP method, the official said.
The latter is typically used in academic research, especially for cross-border comparisons, because it corrects for distortions due to currency fluctuations, more precisely representing the general living standards present in a particular country the official said.
The government has forecast that the nation's GDP will grow 4.58 percent this year, slower than last year's 4.68 percent.
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