{"id":230770,"date":"2026-01-13T09:22:24","date_gmt":"2026-01-13T09:22:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/230770\/"},"modified":"2026-01-13T09:22:24","modified_gmt":"2026-01-13T09:22:24","slug":"taiwan-expected-to-leapfrog-korea-on-gdp-rankings-amid-weak-won-slow-growth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/230770\/","title":{"rendered":"Taiwan expected to leapfrog Korea on GDP rankings amid weak won, slow growth"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Export <\/p>\n

Export containers stack up at Pyeongtaek Port in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi, on Jan. 9. [NEWS1] <\/p>\n

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Korea\u2019s per capita gross domestic product fell in 2025 for the first time in three years as slowing growth and a weaker won weighed on the figure, while Taiwan moved ahead on the strength of its semiconductor exports.
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Korea\u2019s dollar-denominated nominal GDP for 2025 is projected to reach $1.87 trillion, down 0.5 percent from 2024, marking the first contraction since 2022, according to the Ministry of Economy and Finance and the Bank of Korea on Sunday.\u00a0
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In turn, Korea\u2019s per capita GDP is estimated at $36,107, a decline of 0.3 percent, or $116, from 2024.\u00a0
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Using the government\u2019s projected nominal GDP growth rate of 3.8 percent, Korea\u2019s nominal GDP totals 2,654 trillion won ($1.8 trillion). The figure converts the won-based GDP into dollars using last year\u2019s average exchange rate of 1,422.16 won per dollar and then divides the result by a population of 51,684,564 to calculate per capita GDP.
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Korea first surpassed $30,000 in per capita GDP in 2016 and reached $35,359 in 2018. The figure then fell for two consecutive years to $33,652 in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic. It rebounded briefly in 2021 on stimulus measures, declined again in 2022 and rose through 2024 before turning lower once more.
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Slowing growth has played a central role. Korea\u2019s real GDP growth rate has remained below 3 percent for four consecutive years since 2022. Growth likely slowed to 1 percent last year, the weakest showing since 2020, when the economy contracted 0.7 percent.
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The weaker won has further reduced dollar-denominated measures. The average exchange rate last year weakened by 58.18 won, or 4.3 percent, from the 2024 average of 1,363.98 won per dollar. While GDP measured in won rose 28.9 percent between 2021 and last year, dollar-denominated GDP increased only 7 percent over the same period.
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\"A <\/p>\n

A person rides a scooter passing by a Taiwanese flag in Kinmen on Oct. 28, 2025. [AFP\/YONHAP]<\/p>\n

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As Korea\u2019s ranking slips, Taiwan is likely to overtake Korea, in line with forecasts by the International Monetary Fund. In October last year, the IMF projected Korea\u2019s per capita GDP ranking would fall from 34th globally in 2024 to 37th in 2025, while Taiwan would rise from 38th to 35th.
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Taiwan\u2019s statistics agency projected Taiwan\u2019s per capita GDP would reach $38,748 in 2025. At that level, Korea would relinquish its lead over Taiwan for the first time in 22 years, after surpassing Taiwan in 2003, when Korea recorded $15,211 compared to Taiwan\u2019s $10,441.
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Population size remains a decisive factor in per capita rankings. Korea\u2019s population, roughly 2.2 times larger than Taiwan\u2019s 23.4 million, places it at a structural disadvantage. Observers say attention should focus less on the fact that Korea has fallen behind in the rankings and more on the reality that Taiwan\u2019s rise in per capita GDP rests on solid economic growth.
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Taiwan\u2019s strong economic performance stems largely from robust exports led by semiconductor foundry manufacturing. Taiwan\u2019s exports totaled $640.7 billion last year, the highest level on record, up 34.9 percent from 2024.
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\"Taiwanese <\/p>\n

Taiwanese flags are pictured on the street in Kinmen, Taiwan on Oct. 29, 2025. [AFP\/YONHAP]<\/p>\n

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Korea also posted a record $709.7 billion in exports, but Taiwan far outpaced Korea in annual export growth. Taiwan\u2019s exports rose by $165.8 billion from a year earlier, compared to Korea\u2019s $26.1 billion increase.
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Consequently, Taiwan\u2019s exports grew to 90.3 percent of Korea\u2019s export value in 2025, up from 69.5 percent in 2024. The shift stands out given that Taiwan\u2019s overall economic size remains about half of Korea\u2019s.
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With exports accounting for 67.2 percent of its GDP, Taiwan is expected to post real GDP growth of 7.4 percent in 2025. The outlook remains positive this year on the back of the global AI boom.
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Eight major global investment banks forecast Taiwan\u2019s GDP growth this year at an average of 4 percent. Growth will likely slow after last year\u2019s strong expansion, but it is still expected to exceed Korea\u2019s projected 2.0 percent growth rate.
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The National Statistics, Republic of China projects Taiwan\u2019s per capita GDP will reach $40,921 in 2026, allowing it to surpass the $40,000 mark ahead of Korea.
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If the won holds near last year\u2019s level and Korea meets government growth projections, Korea\u2019s per capita GDP this year would reach $37,932, potentially widening the gap further.
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\u201cThe reversal in per capita GDP largely reflects the weaker won and some distortion linked to semiconductors, so it does not require an overly pessimistic interpretation,\u201d said Joo Won, deputy director of economic research at the Hyundai Research Institute. \u201cStill, Korea needs to closely examine the policy support and corporate investment strategies behind Taiwan\u2019s recent momentum and consider how to benchmark them.\u201d\u00a0 <\/p>\n

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY JANG WON-SEOK [[email\u00a0protected]<\/a>]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Export containers stack up at Pyeongtaek Port in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi, on Jan. 9. [NEWS1] \u00a0 Korea\u2019s per capita…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":230771,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[138,219,111,139,69],"class_list":["post-230770","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-economy","tag-business","tag-economy","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/230770","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=230770"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/230770\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/230771"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=230770"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=230770"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=230770"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}