Spanish Media: Chips Trump Tourism, Taiwan Widens Per Capita GDP Gap with Spain
Spanish media reports that Taiwan's per capita GDP is projected to surpass Spain's again in 2025 and further widen the gap by approximately US$7,000 by 2031, with Taiwan's "chip economy" outperforming Spain's "bar economy."
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- 📰 Published: April 30, 2026 at 16:03
- 🔍 Collected: April 30, 2026 at 16:31 (28 min after Published)
- 🤖 AI Analyzed: April 30, 2026 at 16:56 (24 min after Collected)
Central News Agency
(Central News Agency, Madrid, 29th, comprehensive foreign wire report) Spanish media today reported that after Taiwan's per capita GDP once again surpassed Spain's in 2025, it is expected to widen the gap to approximately US$7,000 by 2031. Taiwan's "chip economy" has overtaken Spain's "bar economy," and Spain is now poorer than Taiwan.
Spain's "El Economista" newspaper pointed out that the latest data released by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) shows that driven by strong semiconductor demand, Taiwan's economic leap has even surpassed Spain's. This puts Taiwan's per capita GDP (US$39,488) above Spain's (US$382,900) in 2025, whereas for the previous two consecutive years, Spain's per capita GDP was slightly higher than Taiwan's.
The report states that this "overtaking" itself may not be news; what is more noteworthy is the IMF's forecast: starting from 2025, the economic gap between the two countries will gradually widen, and by 2031, Taiwan's per capita GDP will reach US$56,100, which will be about US$7,000 higher than Spain's US$49,210. The reason is obvious: Taiwan is in an excellent position to benefit from the artificial intelligence (AI) boom, while Spain is not as favored by this AI boom as Taiwan.
Experts from Capital Economics pointed out: "Taiwan's economy has grown strongly in recent years, driven by AI-related exports." Although Taiwan's domestic consumption has been sluggish, "signs of more balanced growth have begun to be observed. Robust wage growth and direct government allocations are driving consumption spending. As long as the Iran war ends soon, this year's GDP growth will be stronger than most people expect."
The report points out that the key to Taiwan's advantage lies in what economists call "intensive growth." This type of economic expansion does not rely on increasing labor or working hours but uses the same resources to produce higher value. The core of this was the semiconductor strategic transformation promoted by the Chiang Ching-kuo government in the 1970s.
In contrast, Spain's recent growth is built on completely different pillars: tourism, construction, low-value-added service industries, and increased labor force brought by population growth or immigration. Economists classify this as "extensive growth": output increases because the number of workers increases, rather than a significant increase in output per worker.
The report points out that the comparison of the export structures of the two countries is even more obvious: Spain mainly exports automobiles, food, industrial machinery, and tourism services; while Taiwan is the infrastructure that supports global digital operations. Analysis by the Harvard Growth Lab shows that Taiwan is one of the most complex economies in the world, far exceeding Spain, and companies can charge higher profits for products that others cannot make.
Taiwan's economy is not without negative factors, including limited real wage growth for many years, soaring housing prices, longer working hours for Taiwanese people, and the economy always being under geopolitical pressure and a large proportion of exports still relying on China. In contrast, Spain still has a large middle class, a strong welfare system, quality infrastructure, and a superior geographical location, but its fatal weakness is systematically low productivity and increasing reliance on tourism.
Spain's R&D expenditure as a percentage of GDP is lower than the EU average. A large number of university graduates often find jobs below their capabilities or immigrate to economies that need more skilled talents.
The report emphasizes that as long as Spain continues to prioritize tourism as its main growth engine and place technology investment in a secondary position, the gap with economies that choose the path of intensive growth (such as Taiwan, South Korea, and the Netherlands) will continue to widen. (Compiler: Chen Yi-wei) 1150430
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(Central News Agency, Madrid, 29th, comprehensive foreign wire report) Spanish media today reported that after Taiwan's per capita GDP once again surpassed Spain's in 2025, it is expected to widen the gap to approximately US$7,000 by 2031. Taiwan's "chip economy" has overtaken Spain's "bar economy," and Spain is now poorer than Taiwan.
Spain's "El Economista" newspaper pointed out that the latest data released by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) shows that driven by strong semiconductor demand, Taiwan's economic leap has even surpassed Spain's. This puts Taiwan's per capita GDP (US$39,488) above Spain's (US$382,900) in 2025, whereas for the previous two consecutive years, Spain's per capita GDP was slightly higher than Taiwan's.
The report states that this "overtaking" itself may not be news; what is more noteworthy is the IMF's forecast: starting from 2025, the economic gap between the two countries will gradually widen, and by 2031, Taiwan's per capita GDP will reach US$56,100, which will be about US$7,000 higher than Spain's US$49,210. The reason is obvious: Taiwan is in an excellent position to benefit from the artificial intelligence (AI) boom, while Spain is not as favored by this AI boom as Taiwan.
Experts from Capital Economics pointed out: "Taiwan's economy has grown strongly in recent years, driven by AI-related exports." Although Taiwan's domestic consumption has been sluggish, "signs of more balanced growth have begun to be observed. Robust wage growth and direct government allocations are driving consumption spending. As long as the Iran war ends soon, this year's GDP growth will be stronger than most people expect."
The report points out that the key to Taiwan's advantage lies in what economists call "intensive growth." This type of economic expansion does not rely on increasing labor or working hours but uses the same resources to produce higher value. The core of this was the semiconductor strategic transformation promoted by the Chiang Ching-kuo government in the 1970s.
In contrast, Spain's recent growth is built on completely different pillars: tourism, construction, low-value-added service industries, and increased labor force brought by population growth or immigration. Economists classify this as "extensive growth": output increases because the number of workers increases, rather than a significant increase in output per worker.
The report points out that the comparison of the export structures of the two countries is even more obvious: Spain mainly exports automobiles, food, industrial machinery, and tourism services; while Taiwan is the infrastructure that supports global digital operations. Analysis by the Harvard Growth Lab shows that Taiwan is one of the most complex economies in the world, far exceeding Spain, and companies can charge higher profits for products that others cannot make.
Taiwan's economy is not without negative factors, including limited real wage growth for many years, soaring housing prices, longer working hours for Taiwanese people, and the economy always being under geopolitical pressure and a large proportion of exports still relying on China. In contrast, Spain still has a large middle class, a strong welfare system, quality infrastructure, and a superior geographical location, but its fatal weakness is systematically low productivity and increasing reliance on tourism.
Spain's R&D expenditure as a percentage of GDP is lower than the EU average. A large number of university graduates often find jobs below their capabilities or immigrate to economies that need more skilled talents.
The report emphasizes that as long as Spain continues to prioritize tourism as its main growth engine and place technology investment in a secondary position, the gap with economies that choose the path of intensive growth (such as Taiwan, South Korea, and the Netherlands) will continue to widen. (Compiler: Chen Yi-wei) 1150430
Choose to stand with the facts. Every sponsorship you make is a force for protecting press freedom.
Download the Central News Agency "First-Hand News" APP to stay updated with the latest news.
Text, images, and videos on this website may not be reproduced, publicly broadcast, or publicly transmitted and used without authorization.