AI-Driven Export Surge: Taiwan's Excess Savings Top NT$9 Trillion for First Time

Strong AI demand is driving a simultaneous expansion in exports and investments. According to the latest estimates from the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS), due to a rapidly increasing current account surplus, excess savings this year will break the NT$9 trillion mark for the first time, reaching NT$9.04335 trillion. The excess savings rate will hit 26.96%, both setting historical highs. Excess savings, the difference between gross national savings and gross domestic investment, has grown exponentially in recent years due to AI-driven export performance. It remained in the NT$3 trillion range from 2020 to 2023, but as AI themes gained momentum in 2024, it surged to NT$5.6 trillion in 2025, and now to the NT$9 trillion level this year. Although excess savings are often described as 'idle funds,' Tsai Yu-tai, Director of the Department of Statistics at DGBAS, stated that AI demand is stronger than expected, driving not only exports but also active capital expenditure by domestic semiconductor, packaging, memory, substrate, and equipment supply chain firms to expand capacity. The funds are not idle; rather, 'companies are moving very quickly.' Tsai explained that from the perspective of national income accounting, the current account surplus and excess savings are two sides of the same coin. With rapid growth in commodity exports, the scale is approaching US$900 billion this year, leading to high levels of excess savings. Consequently, despite a high base of 8.76% last year, DGBAS revised this year's economic growth rate up to 9.64%, a 16-year high. Tsai also noted that while the investment rate (gross domestic investment as a percentage of GDP) is estimated to fall to 24.02%, this is due to the rapid growth of GDP. In absolute terms, gross domestic investment exceeded NT$8 trillion this year, a record high, showing that domestic investment continues to expand under the AI boom.