Taiwan’s average net wealth per household reached a record NT$18.89 million (US$589,999) at the end of 2023, an annual gain of NT$1.16 million, or 6.56 percent, the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) said on Tuesday.
The 2023 number, adjusted after re-evaluating land at the market price, included NT$5.76 million in real estate, NT$3.41 million in securities, NT$2.38 million in time deposits and foreign currency deposits, NT$4.11 million in life insurance and pension fund reserves, and NT$2.56 million in cash and demand deposits, the agency said in a report.
The rise in the average household wealth in 2023 was mainly due to a 26.83 percent increase in the TAIEX, which contributed to an increase of NT$610,000 in the value of securities, while the effect of interest rate hikes helped boost the value of time deposits and foreign currency deposits by NT$160,000, the agency said.
Photo: I-Hwa Cheng, AFP
However, soaring housing prices and rising mortgage rates pushed average household debt to a new high of NT$2.42 million in 2023, up NT$110,000 from the previous year, the report said.
In 2023, real estate remained the largest asset category for Taiwanese households, accounting for 30.49 percent of the average household wealth, followed by life insurance and pension fund reserves at 21.76 percent, and securities at 18.05 percent, the report showed.
The continued rise in life insurance and pension fund reserves reflects the increase in the average life expectancy of people in Taiwan, as well as the growth in the income of the labor retirement fund, the report said.
Excluding those, average net household wealth stood at NT$14.77 million in 2023, a gain of NT$1.05 million, or 7.65 percent, from the previous year, it added.
Overall, Taiwan’s gross national wealth was NT$320.48 trillion in 2023, an increase of NT$9.89 trillion, or 3.18 percent, from the previous year, while net national wealth was NT$252.82 trillion, also a gain of NT$5.81 trillion, or 2.35 percent, from a year earlier, the report said.
National wealth statistics represent the current value of all goods owned by households, nonprofit groups, nonfinancial businesses, financial institutions and the government in a nation at the end of a year, the report said.
Gross national wealth is the total value of net assets on current prices owned by the five sectors, while net national wealth represents the assets’ value of gross national wealth with depreciation and liabilities deducted, it said.
ELECTRONICS BOOST: A predicted surge in exports would likely be driven by ICT products, exports of which have soared 84.7 percent from a year earlier, DBS said DBS Bank Ltd (星展銀行) yesterday raised its GDP growth forecast for Taiwan this year to 4 percent from 3 percent, citing robust demand for artificial intelligence (AI)-related exports and accelerated shipment activity, which are expected to offset potential headwinds from US tariffs. “Our GDP growth forecast for 2025 is revised up to 4 percent from 3 percent to reflect front-loaded exports and strong AI demand,” Singapore-based DBS senior economist Ma Tieying (馬鐵英) said in an online briefing. Taiwan’s second-quarter performance beat expectations, with GDP growth likely surpassing 5 percent, driven by a 34.1 percent year-on-year increase in exports, Ma said, citing government
‘REMARKABLE SHOWING’: The economy likely grew 5 percent in the first half of the year, although it would likely taper off significantly, TIER economist Gordon Sun said The Taiwan Institute of Economic Research (TIER) yesterday raised Taiwan’s GDP growth forecast for this year to 3.02 percent, citing robust export-driven expansion in the first half that is likely to give way to a notable slowdown later in the year as the front-loading of global shipments fades. The revised projection marks an upward adjustment of 0.11 percentage points from April’s estimate, driven by a surge in exports and corporate inventory buildup ahead of possible US tariff hikes, TIER economist Gordon Sun (孫明德) told a news conference in Taipei. Taiwan’s economy likely grew more than 5 percent in the first six months
SMART MANUFACTURING: The company aims to have its production close to the market end, but attracting investment is still a challenge, the firm’s president said Delta Electronics Inc (台達電) yesterday said its long-term global production plan would stay unchanged amid geopolitical and tariff policy uncertainties, citing its diversified global deployment. With operations in Taiwan, Thailand, China, India, Europe and the US, Delta follows a “produce at the market end” strategy and bases its production on customer demand, with major site plans unchanged, Delta president Simon Chang (張訓海) said on the sidelines of a company event yesterday. Thailand would remain Delta’s second headquarters, as stated in its first-quarter earnings conference, with its plant there adopting a full smart manufacturing system, Chang said. Thailand is the firm’s second-largest overseas
SUPPLY RESILIENCE: The extra expense would be worth it, as the US firm is diversifying chip sourcing to avert disruptions similar to the one during the pandemic, the CEO said Advanced Micro Devices Inc (AMD) chief executive officer Lisa Su (蘇姿丰) on Wednesday said that the chips her company gets from supplier Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) would cost more when they are produced in TSMC’s Arizona facilities. Compared with similar parts from factories in Taiwan, the US chips would be “more than 5 percent, but less than 20 percent” in terms of higher costs, she said at an artificial intelligence (AI) event in Washington. AMD expects its first chips from TSMC’s Arizona facilities by the end of the year, Su said. The extra expense is worth it, because the company is
RSS