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.
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