OVERVIEW

Geographical location

Location:-Eastern Asia, islands bordering the East China Sea, Philippine Sea, South China Sea, and Taiwan Strait, north of the Philippines, off the southeastern coast of China

Geographic coordinates:-23 30 N, 121 00 E

Map references: - Southeast Asia

Languages:Mandarin Chinese (official), Taiwanese (Min), Hakka dialects

Currency: Taiwan Dollar (TWD)

Exchange rate:-1.00USD=32.6940TWD

Religions:-mixture of Buddhist and Taoist 93%, Christian 4.5%, other 2.5%

Flag:-

National anthem:- "Zhonghua Minguo guoge"

Economic scenario

2010 2011 2012 2013* 2014**

GDP (US-$ million) 430,196 466,831 474,140 485,237 504,304

Real GDP growth (%) 10.0 4.0 1.3 2.0 2.9

GDP per capita (US-$) 18,570 20,111 20,335 20,754 21,524

Inflation p.a. (%) 1.0 1.4 1.9 1.2 2.0

Fiscal balance (% of GDP) -1.9 -3.3 -2.5 -2.4 -2.2

Total foreign debt (US-$ million) 101,681 122,528 130,821 145,169 152,890

Foreign debt/GDP (%) 24 26 28 30 30

Foreign debt/XGS (%) 30 32 35 38 39

Short-term debt/inter. reserves (%) 22 26 28 30 32

Debt service ratio (%) 4 4 5 5 5

Current account balance (US-$ m) 40,500 41,585 49,923 57,121 55,553

Current account/GDP (%) 9.4 8.9 10.5 11.8 11.0

Nom. exchange rate to US-$ (average) 32 29 30 30 30

International reserves (US-$ million) 379,180 397,199 400,584 426,167 426,167

In months of merchandise imports 17.1 15.5 16.3 17.5 16.8

Political risk: - Low

Industries:Electronics, communications and information technology products, petroleum refining, chemicals, textiles, iron and steel, machinery, cement, food processing, vehicles, consumer products, pharmaceuticals

Imports:

$268.5 billion (2013 est.)

Imports - commodities:

electronics, machinery, crude petroleum, precision instruments, organic chemicals, metals

Imports - partners:

Japan 17.6%, China 16.1%, US 9.5% (2012 est.)