2020 Q4

■ International Economic Outlook

Observations of international organizations such as EIU, IMF, and the OECD reveal that the US's GDP growth rate shrank by 3.5% in 2020, which represents a drop of 5.7 percentage points over the previous year. These institutions project a maximum GDP growth rate of 5.1% for 2021. The Japanese GDP growth rate for the whole year contracted by 4.8%, a decrease of 5.1 percentage points compared to the previous year. The maximum projected GDP growth rate for 2021 is 3.1%. The Eurozone GDP growth rate dropped by 6.8% in 2020. It is expected that the GDP growth rate will not exceed a maximum of 5.0% in 2021. The preliminary estimate for China is a GDP growth rate of 2.3% for the whole year, a decrease of 3.7% over 2019. Forecasts predict a maximum GDP growth rate of 8.1% for 2021.

2021 Global Economic Growth Forecast Compiled Chart

■ Taiwan Economic Overview

Key domestic economic indicators in 2020 point to a real economic growth rate (GDP) of 3.11%. The export order volume rose by 10.13% to hit a record high of US$ 533.663 billion, an increase of US$ 49.104 billion over the previous year. The export trade value reached a new high of US$ 345.274 billion, a year-on-year increase of 4.90%. The industrial production index and manufacturing industry production index climbed to 115.84 and 116.83, respectively. This represents a year-on-year rise of 6.81% and 7.26%.

■ Taipei Econ Overview

As of the end of December 2020, a total of 239,434 businesses were registered in Taipei City. This number rose by 892 compared to the previous year, which represents a year-on-year increase of 0.37%. Firms registered in Taipei account for 14.79% of all businesses in Taiwan. The total registered capital of the Taipei City companies reaches13.1260 trillion, constituting 51.58% of the aggregate capital of all firms in Taiwan. 1,032 factories are currently registered in Taipei City, which is 18 less than last year.

The total actual number of companies and firms in Taipei City totals 239,069 had a sales volume of 13.7677 trillion in 2020, representing an increase of 1.76% compared to the previous year and accounts for 31.48% of the total sales volume of all Taiwanese businesses. The tertiary industry had a sales volume of 11.1917 trillion, making up 44.97% of the total sales of all tertiary businesses in Taiwan. Approved foreign investments in Taipei City amount to US$ 5.29 billion, a decrease by US$ 3.047 billion over 2019. This amount accounts for 57.85% of all foreign investments in Taiwan. 268 newly established foreign companies were registered in Taipei City in 2020, which is 77 less than in 2019.