Taiwan remains 6th largest net creditor nation in 2025: Central bank

Taipei, June 15 (CNA) Taiwan remained the sixth-largest net creditor nation in the world in 2025 despite a fall of over 10 percent in its net international investment position (NIIP) in the year, the Central Bank of the Republic of China (Taiwan) said Monday.

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

In the latest annual NIIP report, the central bank said Taiwan's external financial assets hit US$3.27 trillion at the end of 2025, up US$275.75 billion or 9.2 percent from a year earlier.

The growth largely reflected an increase in holdings of overseas marketable securities by residents in Taiwan as well as a spike in the value of these securities, the central bank said.

Meanwhile, Taiwan's external financial liabilities increased at a much faster pace last year to reach a new high of US$1.92 trillion at the end of 2025, soaring US$438.38 billion or 29.6 percent from a year earlier, the bank added.

The difference between the country's external financial assets and liabilities reached US$1.35 trillion, the sixth largest in the world, as of the end of 2025, down US$162.63 billion, or 10.8 percent, from a year earlier, the central bank said.

Tsai Mei-fen (蔡美芬), an official from the central bank's Department of Economic Research, told reporters that the record high in Taiwan's external liabilities in 2025 came after a strong showing in the local stock market, led by the bellwether electronics index, which soared 35.55 percent last year amid the current AI boom.

Foreign institutional investors trimmed their holdings in Taiwan's stock market with a net fund outflow in 2025, but high share prices, in particular in the electronics sector, still boosted the value of their holdings, Tsai said.

Foreign institutional investors largely favored Taiwan's tech stocks with contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., which accounts for over 40 percent of total market value, one of their favorites.

Taiwan experienced market conditions similar to those in South Korea last year due to fast-growing stock prices, she added.

The previous record for Taiwan's NIIP position was seen at the end of 2023 but fell the following year before rebounding last year on the back of a rise in market value held by foreign institutional investors, Tsai added.

Among other countries, Germany took the top net creditor spot with a NIIP of about US$4.32 trillion as of the end of 2025, ahead of China (US$4.07 trillion), Japan (US$3.68 trillion), Hong Kong (US$2.51 trillion) and Norway (US$2.11 trillion), according to the central bank.