Taipei, Oct. 14 (CNA) Taiwan ranks first in Asia and fifth globally in terms of net financial assets per capita, according to the 2022 Allianz Global Wealth Report released Wednesday.
With net financial assets per capita of 138,220 euros (US$134,678) by the end of last year, Taiwan was classified by the report as one of 30 advanced economies out of the 57 surveyed, the Germany-based Allianz Research report showed.
"In terms of net financial assets, Asia excluding Japan has seen important developments in the past two decades, moving from 1,070 euros per capita back in 2000 to 8,710 euros (end-2021)," the report said.
While Singapore has also increased its net wealth per capita by two-fold in the past decade to 134,150 euros, it mentioned that Taiwan surpassed the city-state to become the richest Asian country in terms of net financial assets per capita.
According to the Allianz survey, the United States, Switzerland, Denmark and Sweden were the only countries that had higher financial assets per capita than Taiwan, with 259,780 euros, 237,110 euros, 183,610 euros, and 146,510 euros, respectively.
In terms of gross financial assets per capita, Taiwan was ranked ninth in the world with 164,610 euros, after Switzerland, the U.S., Denmark, Sweden, the Netherlands, Canada, Singapore and Australia.
In the report, Allianz also mentioned the ballooning debt ratio in some Asian countries due to booms in the auto and housing industries.
In South Korea, household debt as a percentage of gross domestic product (GDP) stood at 109.1 percent in 2021, followed by 90 percent for Thailand and Taiwan.
"For the whole region, the ratio reached 60.6 percent in 2021, making it the only one where liabilities are considerably higher today than a decade ago," the report said.
Looking back, Allianz said the global economy prospered last year with "bullish stock markets powered by monetary policy," and that global financial assets grew by double digits for a third year in a row in 2021, reaching 233 trillion euros (+10.4 percent).
However, it forecast that global financial assets are set to decline in 2022 due to the Ukraine-Russia war, as "inflation is rampant, energy and food are scarce and monetary tightening is squeezing economies and markets."
