Does Japan have the lowest economic inequality of Asian nations? If so, what are the reasons? (country, cheap)

[Greysholic]

Gini index is weird, some data shows that Japan's income inequality is about the same as Sweden and Denmark and some shows that it's actually pretty high.

Hong Kong and Singapore have really high income inequality but they are cities so it's not exactly a fair comparison. If we're just comparing cities then Seoul and Tokyo are probably just as unequal or even worse.

[lokeung)]

USD100 can buy a lot of stuff in Taiwan than in the whole Eurozone, Switzerland, Nordic countries,the UK, Canada, the US, Australia, NZ and Japan. Don't know about Hungary, which is outside the Eurozone.

The income of of an average person in Taiwan cannot buy him or her the same amount of things in most other developed countries. Meals in Japan, Singapore and HK are often considered expensive by the Taiwanese tourists.

Originally Posted by botticelli

it is crazy to say Taiwan is at par with Hungry.

You need to look at per capita GDP to fairly compare countries. Taiwan is, comparable to Germany, and higher than France, according to both CIA and IMF.

$100 can probably buy a lot more stuff in Taiwan than in Hungry.

People who can afford to own private real estates in Hong Kong and Singapore are "rich". The prices of real estate are much higher than Tokyo's. The Japanese restaurants in HK and Singapore are not cheap, and more expensive than a regular restaurant in Tokyo, but they are full of local middle or upper class diners.

Rich Japanese do not show their wealth as flashy as the Chinese. Wealthy Chinese like to show off their expensive items.

The poverty in Japan is increasing, the situation is not as good as it used to be. South Korea's and China's middle class are increasing at a higher rate than before.

[pennyone]

Japan is relatively more equal with wealth because it is by far a more matured economy than the others in Asia. It has had time to truly develop and fill in the edges, while China is still at an awkward stage of nuveaux riche and desperate poverty. China needs to jump past the middle income trap if it wishes to be like Japan and become a developed and mature economy.

[Vmodeb]

Actually Japan has a lot of poor people, people not in the major cities dont make a lot of money. Young people don't make enough money to marry, have children and start new families.

The number of Japanese tourists to other countries have decreased a lot as less people can afford to travel. A short trip to nearby countries is now considered expensive by many Japanese people.

[OZpharmer]

Originally Posted by botticelli

it is crazy to say Taiwan is at par with Hungry.

You need to look at per capita GDP to fairly compare countries. Taiwan is, comparable to Germany, and higher than France, according to both CIA and IMF.

$100 can probably buy a lot more stuff in Taiwan than in Hungry.

Are you saying that both the average income and cost of living are more favorable in Taiwan than in Hungary?

[Greysholic]

Originally Posted by OZpharmer

Are you saying that both the average income and cost of living are more favorable in Taiwan than in Hungary?

Of course. Hungary is really poor.

Taiwan is more expensive than Hungary though.

[OZpharmer]

Originally Posted by Greysholic

Of course. Hungary is really poor.

Taiwan is more expensive than Hungary though.

Your last sentence makes total sense, but are so many Hungarians dying from starvation like in North Korea and Somalia? Come on...

[Greysholic]

Oh course not, but it's still very poor by European standard.

[lukas1973]

I'm very sceptical about all those GDP or GDP (PPP) figures. I can't judge the living standard in Taiwan. At least within the EU you can normally conclude from the outer appearance of the cities to the living standard. That doesn't seem to work in Taiwan. Using google streetview, Taiwan appears to me quite poor. At least the outer appearance of Taiwan doesn't seem to reflect these relative high GDP (PPP) figures.

According to figures from IMF:

GDP per capita (nominal / PPP):

Taiwan: 22,263 / 47,790
Germany: 40,952 / 48,190
Hungary: 12,240 / 27,211

Concluded from these figres (when I have do the maths correctly), then the price level (for domestic made goods and services) in Germany would be about 82% higher than in Taiwan. That's quite a lot. Germany is among the Western world already quite cheap.

According to figures from Numbeo:

Consumer prices in Germany are 3% higher than in Taiwan
Consumer prices including rent in Germany are 14% higher than in Taiwan
Rent prices in Germany are 67% higher than in Taiwan
Restaurant prices in Germany are 114% higher than in Taiwan
Grocery prices in Germany are 34% lower than in Taiwan

The comparision of GDP and GDP (PPP) figures for Taiwan and Hungary sugest that the prive level in both countries is quite comparable. That seems quite questionable to me.

According to figures from Numbeo:

Consumer prices in Taiwan are 49% higher than in Hungary
Consumer prices including rent in Taiwan are 43% higher than in Hungary
Rent prices in Taiwan are 20% higher than in Hungary
Restaurant prices in Taiwan are 10% lower than in Hungary
Grocery prices in Taiwan are 126% higher than in Hungary

In my opinion the PPP adjustment for the GDP of Taiwan seems quite questionable.


I have googled rents for apartments in Taiwan, it seems indeed extremely cheap. I'm not sure about the restaurant prices. At least pizza is definitely more expensive than in Germany. I guess that Chinese food at restaurants are incredible cheap in Taiwan. I've googled grocery prices from A.mart. Those seems throughout outrageous expensive to me. I guess A.mart is a very expensive chain.

Overall I really doubt that the price level in Taiwan is so low as these PPP adjusted GDP figures sugest.

I'm not sure whether my reasonings make sense.

[OyCrumbler]

Originally Posted by Greysholic

Oh course not, but it's still very poor by European standard.

Eh, it's not very poor by European standards. There are a lot of Eastern European, Balkan, and Caucasian (as in, in the Caucasus) that are poorer. Hungary's a bit more like in the lower middle portion.