Although South Korea has outperformed Taiwan in per-capita GNP, Taiwan is still stronger in purchasing power parity (PPP) than South Korea, according to a government official.
Hu Sheng-cheng (
According to the IMF statistics, Hong Kong enjoyed the highest PPP of US$27,892 among the four Asian Dragons in 2003. Taiwan came second with US$24,558, ahead of Singapore's US$24,552 and South Korea's US$17,900.
The gap in PPP of US$6,658 between Taiwan and South Korea is an indication that Taiwan had substantially higher income than South Korea, Hu said.
The council's chairman added that he believes the figures to be released by the IMF for last year will still show that Taiwan has a higher PPP than South Korea, excluding changes in the currency exchange rate.
Tallies compiled recently by the International Institute for Management Development show that Hong Kong had an average PPP of US$27,743 in 2003, followed by Singapore with US$24,183, Taiwan with US$22,760 and South Korea with US$17,368. Taiwan exceeded South Korea by US$5,392 according to those calculations.
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