Taiwan ranks as 6th largest global net creditor in 2024

Taipei, June 14 (CNA) Taiwan ranked as the sixth largest net creditor in the world in 2024, down one notch from 2023 in the wake of a strong showing by the local stock market which boosted the country's liabilities and pushed down its net international investment position (NIIP), according to the central bank.

Data compiled by the central bank showed Taiwan's external financial assets totaled US$3.03 trillion at the end of 2024, up US$148.17 billion, or 5.1 percent, from a year earlier.

The country's external financial liabilities reached US$1.48 trillion as of the end of 2024, up US$301.15 billion, or 25.6 percent, from a year earlier, with the central bank saying the increase in liabilities came largely from the value of equities owned by foreign institutional investors.

The difference between Taiwan's external financial assets and liabilities at the end of 2024 totaled US$1.56 trillion, down US$152.98 billion, or 9.0 percent from a year earlier, positioning Taiwan as the world's sixth biggest net creditor, the data showed.

According to the central bank, a country's international investment position is the balance sheet of residents' financial assets held in the rest of the world and liabilities to the rest of the world.

The NIIP is the difference between a country's external financial assets and its external financial liabilities, according to the central bank.

Among other countries, Germany took the top net creditor spot with a NIIP of about US$3.64 trillion as of the end of 2024, ahead of Japan (US$3.49 trillion), China (US$3.30 trillion), Hong Kong (US$2.04 trillion) and Norway (US$1.74 trillion), according to the central bank.

Chen Pei-wen (陳裴紋), deputy head of the central bank's Department of Economic Research, said the Taiex, the weighted index on the Taiwan Stock Exchange, soared 28.5 percent in 2024, making the local main board the second strongest in the world behind only the 28.6 percent rally on the tech-heavy Nasdaq index.

In particular, Chen said, the local electronics index surged 43.2 percent last year, with the increase in value of foreign institutional investors' holdings in Taiwanese tech stocks lifting Taiwan's financial liabilities and cutting the country's NIIP.

Last year, other foreign markets underperformed the Taiex with the Dow Jones Industrial Average rising 12.9 percent, the Japan market gaining 19.2 percent, the German market growing 18.8 percent, the Hong Kong market adding 17.7 percent, the Singapore market rising 16.9 percent and the U.K. market climbing 5.7 percent, according to the central bank.

The South Korea market also lagged behind the Taiex, falling 9.6 percent in 2024 but the weakness in the South Korean equity market boosted the country's NIIP and vaulted its ranking to the ninth largest net creditor last year, up two notches from a year earlier, Chen said.