South Korea vs. Taiwan

I had a discussion with some friends tonight about Taiwan's economy that prompted me to look up some hard numbers. Here's what I found (sorry, couldn't do tables..):

South Korea: GDP - Real Growth Rate
Year GDP - real growth rate Rank Percent Change Date of Information
2003 6.20 % 19 2002 est.
2004 3.10 % 106 -50.00 % 2003 est.
2005 4.60 % 93 48.39 % 2004 est.
2006 4.00 % 123 -13.04 % 2005 est.
2007 4.80 % 108 20.00 % 2006 est.

Taiwan: GDP - Real Growth Rate
Year GDP - real growth rate Rank Percent Change Date of Information
2003 3.50 % 85 2002 est.
2004 3.20 % 101 -8.57 % 2003 est.
2005 6.00 % 51 87.50 % 2004 est.
2006 4.00 % 118 -33.33 % 2005 est.
2007 4.60 % 114 15.00 % 2006 est.

We are definitely NOT far behind South Korea in terms of growth. We even beat South Korea in 2005. This is a promising indicator. South Korea does have, and has always had (at least since 2003), larger GDP purchasing power parity. So Taiwan has in some sense always been behind here, but that may have to do with the size of our countries, available natural resources, etc.

How about GDP per capita?

South Korea: GDP per capita
Year GDP - per capita (PPP) Rank Percent Change Date of Information
2003 $19,400 39 2002 est.
2004 $17,800 49 -8.25 % 2003 est.
2005 $19,200 51 7.87 % 2004 est.
2006 $22,600 43 17.71 % 2005 est.
2007 $24,500 44 8.41 % 2006 est.

Taiwan: GDP per capita
Year GDP - per capita (PPP) Rank Percent Change Date of Information
2003 $18,000 48 2002 est.
2004 $23,400 30 30.00 % 2003 est.
2005 $25,300 33 8.12 % 2004 est.
2006 $27,500 33 8.70 % 2005 est.
2007 $29,500 35 7.27 % 2006 est.

Taiwan actually is HIGHER since 2004. So the argument about people unable/unwilling to leave Taiwan to study abroad because once they return to Taiwan, they cannot find high paying jobs (high paying comparable to the United States) applies to South Korea as well. Something else is pushing South Koreans to study abroad more (or perhaps that's not true, need to check data), and that reason we are missing. To clarify however, these numbers are of course still LOW compared to the United States, which has per capita GDP $44,000 in 2007.

Taiwan has around 1 to 0.9% of it's population below the poverty line since 1999. In 2003, South Korea still had 15% below poverty line (no up to date data on website or CIA Factbook)! How about unemployment?

South Korea: Unemployment
Year Unemployment rate Rank Percent Change Date of Information
2003 3.10 % 166 2002 est.
2004 3.40 % 165 9.68 % 2003 est.
2005 3.60 % 32 5.88 % 2004 est.
2006 3.70 % 33 2.78 % 2005 est.
2007 3.30 % 33 -10.81 % December 2006 est.

Taiwan: Unemployment
Year Unemployment rate Rank Percent Change Date of Information
2003 5.20 % 147 2002 est.
2004 5.00 % 148 -3.85 % 2003 est.
2005 4.50 % 40 -10.00 % 2004 est.
2006 4.10 % 39 -8.89 % 2005 est.
2007 3.90 % 45 -4.88 % 2006 est.

Here, Taiwan is also a little HIGHER, though this is not something to be as HAPPY about.

I found the data at http://indexmundi.com, which takes their data from the CIA Factbook. I think the CIA factbook is pretty believable data. In conclusion, I don't think we should be so pessimistic about Taiwan's economy.