Taiwan to overtake South Korea's per capita GDP by end of year

[Mista]

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwan’s GDP per capita is poised to overtake South Korea’s before the end of the year, according to recent estimates by the IMF.

South Korea first overtook Taiwan in this economic metric in 2003, but its nearly two-decade lead is due to end thanks to Taiwan’s strong growth in recent years, according to a Business Korea report. Taiwan’s projected GDP per capita will reach US$36,000 (NT$1,045,998) while South Korea’s will end the year at US$34,990.

The pandemic accelerated Taiwan’s catchup, with Seoul’s economy contracting by 0.9% in 2020 before growing 4% in 2021. Taiwan, by contrast, grew 3.11% in 2020 and 6.28% last year.

This is partly due to the fact that conglomerates, which dominate the South Korean economy, are slower in responding to economic contraction than subcontract manufacturing suppliers, according to Taiwanese think tank Chung-hua Institution for Economic Research (中華經濟研究院).

“Meanwhile, Taiwan is benefiting from the ongoing global supply chain reshaping,” the institute said.

GDP per capita is a metric that divides a nation’s GDP by its total population. It does not reflect the average income of a country’s citizens, however. In 2020, Taiwan’s median wage was NT$41,500, while South Korea’s by comparison was NT$70,153.

Taiwan to overtake South Korea's per capita GDP by end of year | Taiwan News | 2022-04-26 15:15:00

Taiwan’s economic structure more adaptable to pandemic, think tank says | 2022-04-26 15:15:00

www.taiwannews.com.tw

 

[Mista]

Taiwan, by contrast, grew 3.11% in 2020 and 6.28% last year.

Those are pretty impressive numbers for a developed economy during Covid.

 

[UKBengali]

The other factor is Taiwan is dominated by TSMC and they have done well out of the pandemic as demand for silicon has shot through the roof.

 

[RescueRanger]

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwan’s GDP per capita is poised to overtake South Korea’s before the end of the year, according to recent estimates by the IMF.

South Korea first overtook Taiwan in this economic metric in 2003, but its nearly two-decade lead is due to end thanks to Taiwan’s strong growth in recent years, according to a Business Korea report. Taiwan’s projected GDP per capita will reach US$36,000 (NT$1,045,998) while South Korea’s will end the year at US$34,990.

The pandemic accelerated Taiwan’s catchup, with Seoul’s economy contracting by 0.9% in 2020 before growing 4% in 2021. Taiwan, by contrast, grew 3.11% in 2020 and 6.28% last year.

This is partly due to the fact that conglomerates, which dominate the South Korean economy, are slower in responding to economic contraction than subcontract manufacturing suppliers, according to Taiwanese think tank Chung-hua Institution for Economic Research (中華經濟研究院).

“Meanwhile, Taiwan is benefiting from the ongoing global supply chain reshaping,” the institute said.

GDP per capita is a metric that divides a nation’s GDP by its total population. It does not reflect the average income of a country’s citizens, however. In 2020, Taiwan’s median wage was NT$41,500, while South Korea’s by comparison was NT$70,153.

Taiwan to overtake South Korea's per capita GDP by end of year | Taiwan News | 2022-04-26 15:15:00

Taiwan’s economic structure more adaptable to pandemic, think tank says | 2022-04-26 15:15:00

www.taiwannews.com.tw

South Korea is still struggling with unemployment. For a country where there is intense competition for high paid jobs - it’s a shame the SME sector is so under developed with almost all South Korean youths aiming or aspiring for roles in civil service or big MNC’s.

There is also a cultural shift in thinking of young Koreans who desire a more relaxed life in hyper capitalistic South Korea.

There is a war between the konndae (꼰대) the older generation who despise the lazy youth and the worabel (워라벨) youngsters who want a more broad horizontal career progression.

Speak to any motivated and driven young Korean and they will highlight the importance of obtaining specs [스펙] - to beef up your CV in an ever competitive recruitment market where your military service, university background and surname tend to trump your TOEIC score or GPA.

 

[AViet]

Number are just number. Taiwan's living standard seems to have always been higher than Korea, regardless of nominal GDP per capita (and in fact, the Taiwan's PPP GDP per capita has always been among the world's highest, even higher than the US).

Have lived in Korea for a while, I could see a lot of poverty, even in the center of Seoul. Slum dwelling (of course, not in sense of Mumbai slum, but still slum) are still rampant in Seoul. Old women selling vegetables on street pavements are quite common. I did not see any of that when visiting Taiwan 20 years ago.

 

[UKBengali]

Number are just number. Taiwan's living standard seems to have always been higher than Korea, regardless of nominal GDP per capita (and in fact, the Taiwan's PPP GDP per capita has always been among the world's highest, even higher than the US).

Have lived in Korea for a while, I could see a lot of poverty, even in the center of Seoul. Slum dwelling (of course, not in sense of Mumbai slum, but still slum) are still rampant in Seoul. Old women selling vegetables on street pavements are quite common. I did not see any of that when visiting Taiwan 20 years ago.

Yep we need to look at GDP per capita at PPP.


South Korea: 47,000 US dollars

Taiwan: 60,000 US dollars


That is a more than 20% advantage to Taiwan and so it is an appreciably richer country.

 

[vi-va]

IMF already took South Korea Samsung, so I am not surprised that South Korea living standard is not as high as the number looks like.

South Korean are employees of IMF, free of charge.