Hsinchu city: Hsinchu City has retained its status as Taiwan's wealthiest municipality for the second consecutive year in 2024, with an average household disposable income surpassing NT$1.5 million (US$49,968).

According to Focus Taiwan, official data released by the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) on Monday revealed that households in Hsinchu City led the nation with an average disposable income of NT$1,503,646. This was followed by Taipei at NT$1,485,461 and Hsinchu County at NT$1,481,536. The ranking remained unchanged from 2023. In 2022, Taipei held the top position, with Hsinchu County second and Hsinchu City third.

DGBAS officials mentioned that these results were largely anticipated by the public. The dominance of the Hsinchu area is attributed to its cluster of high-tech firms, notably the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., the world's largest contract chipmaker. Nationwide, the average disposable income reached a record NT$1,165,206, with the median at NT$984,749. These figures indicated annual growth rates of 2.5 percent and 2.47 percent, respectively, as Taiwan's gross domestic product grew by 4.84 percent.

Furthermore, the DGBAS observed a widening income disparity between households. The top 20 percent of earners made 6.14 times more than the bottom 20 percent, a slight increase from the previous year. The data also highlighted that Taiwanese households are spending more on health care, which accounted for 14.8 percent of household expenses in 2024, an increase of 2.6 percentage points over the past decade.

Additionally, there was a notable rise in households with women as the primary breadwinners, accounting for 32.8 percent or 3.03 million households, an increase of 4.8 percentage points or 720,000 households from 10 years ago. During the same period, the number of households with men as the primary economic providers increased by 250,000 to 6.23 million, as reported by the DGBAS.