Household disposable income gap narrows in 2023: DGBAS

Taipei, Aug. 16 (CNA) The gap in disposable income between the top and bottom 20 percent of income earners in Taiwan has narrowed to its lowest level since 2020, according to Directorate General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) figures released Friday.

Average disposable income per household was NT$1.137 million (US$35,215) in 2023, up 2.5 percent from 2022, and average disposable income per capita was NT$407,000, up 4.0 percent from a year earlier, the DGBAS' 2023 Survey of Family Income and Expenditure reported.

Average disposable income per household for the top 20 percent of income earners increased by 2.6 percent from 2022 to NT$2.302 million, while for the bottom 20 percent it increased by 3.0 percent to NT$376,000.

That translated to a disposable income gap of 6.12 times between the top and bottom 20 percent, lower than the 6.15 times in 2022 and the lowest level since 6.13 times in 2020, according to the DGBAS.

It was also the first time the ratio had fallen from the previous year since 2017.

DGBAS official Lee Chia-hang (李佳航) said Taiwan's economy continued to grow in 2023 and had lower unemployment, but the government also gave everyone a one-time cash handout of NT$6,000, which had a major positive effect on those in the lowest quintile.

Meanwhile, Taiwan's Gini coefficient in 2023 was 0.339, down by 0.003 from 2022, according to DGBAS figures.

The Gini coefficient is a measure used widely to gauge income inequality, with a higher coefficient representing a bigger gap between an economy's highest and lowest income-earners.

In the four-year national development plan announced by the Cabinet on Thursday, it said that a Gini coefficient lower than 0.35 should be maintained.

Given that the latest Gini coefficient of 0.339 is already lower than 0.35, the goal of keeping it lower than 0.35 has been questioned as perhaps being overly conservative.

National Development Council head Paul Liu (劉鏡清) said, however, that in a free economy there is no way to stop those making money from continuing to do so, so the government's role is to prevent greater income inequality.