Hsinchu City remains Taiwan's richest municipality

Taipei, Aug. 18 (CNA) Hsinchu City retained its status as Taiwan's richest municipality for the second consecutive year in 2024, with average household disposable income exceeding NT$1.5 million (US$49,968).

According to official data released Monday by the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS), households in Hsinchu City led the country with an average disposable income of NT$1,503,646, followed by Taipei (NT$1,485,461) and Hsinchu County (NT$1,481,536).

The order was the same as in 2023. Taipei posted the national high in 2022, when Hsinchu County ranked second and Hsinchu City third.

DGBAS officials said the results largely matched public expectations, attributing the Hsinchu area's lead to the cluster of high-tech firms in its science park, including Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., the world's largest contract chipmaker.

Nationwide, average disposable income rose to a record NT$1,165,206, with the median reaching NT$984,749. These represented annual growth of 2.5 percent and 2.47 percent, respectively, while Taiwan's gross domestic product expanded 4.84 percent.

Meanwhile, the DGBAS noted that income disparities between households were widening, with the top 20 percent earning 6.14 times as much as the bottom 20 percent -- up 0.02 from 2023.

The data also showed that Taiwanese households are spending more on health care as life expectancy increases. Health care accounted for 14.8 percent of household expenses in 2024, up 2.6 percentage points from a decade ago.

Households with women as the primary breadwinner accounted for 32.8 percent, or 3.03 million households, up 4.8 percentage points -- or 720,000 households -- from 10 years ago.

During the same period, households with men as the primary economic provider increased by 250,000 to 6.23 million, the DGBAS added.