TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwanese households are the second richest in Asia and retained their No. 5 world ranking in net financial assets per capita in the latest wealth report by the Allianz Group.

According to the German multinational financial services company's latest report titled "Allianz Global Wealth Report 2024," net financial assets, which correspond to financial assets minus liabilities, increased globally by 8.8%, while Asia grew by over 8%. The per capita net financial assets owned by Taiwanese in 2023 amounted to 148,750 euros (US$162,000), an annual increase of approximately 5%.

According to Allianz statistics, the wealthiest country in the world is the US, with net financial assets reaching 260,320 euros, followed by Switzerland, Denmark, Singapore, and Taiwan. As for Taiwan's closest remaining Asian rivals, Japan ranked 12th, South Korea ranked 21st, and China ranked 33rd.

Japan managed a modest growth rate of 2%. China grew "strongly" by 8.2% as it recovered from its zero COVID policy, while the US grew at an even higher rate of 8.6%.

Unlike 2022, all of the top five richest countries in the world had positive growth in net financial assets in 2023. Of these countries, Taiwan's net assets grew the most at 9.9%, followed by the US at 9.8%, Singapore at 7.1%, Denmark at 4.3%, and Switzerland at 2.5%.

Allianz said gross financial assets per capita in Taiwan increased by 9.3% in 2023 to 176,340 euros, a significant increase from the 3.6% growth seen in the previous year. Taiwan ranked seventh in this category with Switzerland in first place, followed by the US, Denmark, Singapore, Canada, and the Netherlands. 

Taiwan's debt growth remained at 6.3% as seen in 2022. However, the debt-to-GDP ratio rose, reaching a historic high of 93.5%.