Taiwan was ranked the 20th richest country in the world in terms of per capita income when adjusted for purchasing power parity (PPP), much higher than it would be ranked if comparing nominal per capita GDP, according to data released by the IMF on Tuesday.
Based on the latest IMF statistics, Taiwan’s PPP-based per capita GDP was estimated at US$35,604 last year. The nation’s ranking was higher than the UK, France, Japan and South Korea, the data showed.
Purchasing power parity is used to adjust exchange rates so that the rates accurately reflect each currency’s purchasing power.
The Persian Gulf oil-producing country of Qatar replaced Luxembourg as the world’s richest country with a PPP-based per capita GDP of US$81,466 last year. Qatar’s figure was almost double that of the US, which ranked seventh at US$46,860.
The report said GDP dollar estimates used in its ranking were derived from PPP calculations prepared by various organizations, including the World Bank. It also qualified the statistics, saying PPP figures were estimates rather than hard facts.
Comparisons of national wealth are also frequently made on the basis of nominal GDP, which does not reflect differences in the cost of living in different countries.
Consequently, the IMF and the World Bank tend to use the PPP index to compare national wealth or living standards of various countries.
In using PPP per-capita GDP to compare Taiwan and Japan, Taiwan’s per capita income is actually higher by US$1,749. However, Taiwan’s nominal GDP per capita is less than half Japan’s US$42,782. The huge difference can be attributed to the high cost of living in Japan or the overvaluation of the yen, or a combination of both.
The IMF data showed Germany was ranked one notch ahead of Taiwan, with US$36,081 in per capita GDP on a PPP basis, while the UK ranked 21st richest with an estimated US$35,059 and France was 23rd at US$33,910.
Japan came in 24th at US$33,885 and South Korea was two spots behind with PPP-based per capita GDP estimated at US$29,997. China was ranked 94th at US$7,544.
Shares of contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) came under pressure yesterday after a report that Apple Inc is looking to shift some orders from the Taiwanese company to Intel Corp. TSMC shares fell NT$55, or 2.4 percent, to close at NT$2,235 on the local main board, Taiwan Stock Exchange data showed. Despite the losses, TSMC is expected to continue to benefit from sound fundamentals, as it maintains a lead over its peers in high-end process development, analysts said. “The selling was a knee-jerk reaction to an Intel-Apple report over the weekend,” Mega International Investment Services Corp (兆豐國際投顧) analyst Alex Huang
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) is expected to remain Apple Inc’s primary chip manufacturing partner despite reports that Apple could shift some orders to Intel Corp, industry experts said yesterday. The comments came after The Wall Street Journal reported on Friday that Apple and Intel had reached a preliminary agreement following more than a year of negotiations for Intel to manufacture some chips for Apple devices. Taiwan Institute of Economic Research (台灣經濟研究院) economist Arisa Liu (劉佩真) said TSMC’s advanced packaging technologies, including integrated fan-out and chip-on-wafer-on-substrate, remain critical to the performance of Apple’s A-series and M-series chips. She said Intel and Samsung
TRANSITION: With the closure, the company would reorganize its Taiwanese unit to a sales and service-focused model, Bridgestone said Bridgestone Corp yesterday announced it would cease manufacturing operations at its tire plant in Hsinchu County’s Hukou Township (湖口), affecting more than 500 workers. Bridgestone Taiwan Co (台灣普利司通) said in a statement that the decision was based on the Tokyo-based tire maker’s adjustments to its global operational strategy and long-term market development considerations. The Taiwanese unit would be reorganized as part of the closure, effective yesterday, and all related production activities would be concluded, the statement said. Under the plan, Bridgestone would continue to deepen its presence in the Taiwanese market, while transitioning to a sales and service-focused business model, it added. The Hsinchu
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) has approved a capital budget of US$31.28 billion for production expansion to meet long-term development needs during the artificial intelligence (AI) boom. The company’s board meeting yesterday approved the capital appropriation plan for purposes such as the installation of advanced technology capacity and fab construction, the world’s largest contract chipmaker said in a statement. At an earnings conference last month, TSMC forecast that its capital expenditure for this year would be at the higher end of the US$52 billion to US$56 billion range it forecast in January in response to robust demand for 5G, AI and
RSS