台灣經濟成長率壞掉了！Q1年增爆13.69%回到「錢淹腳目時代」，但不是人人有份

Taiwan's Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) announced on April 30 that the preliminary Q1 economic growth rate was 13.69%, an upward revision of 2.23 percentage points from the February forecast, marking a new single-quarter high in nearly 39 years since Q3 1987. However, in the 1987 version of "money flooding the ankles," everyone's feet got wet. In the 2026 version, perhaps only the tech export supply chain is soaking in the water. (Previous coverage: Asian stock markets close out April! Dragged down by crude oil, Taiwan stocks and Nikkei take a hit, while Korean stocks hit new highs against the trend thanks to semiconductors) (Background supplement: Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) implements "TSMC Clause"! Single-stock holding limit for Taiwan stock funds relaxed to 25%, with up to 200 billion in liquidity expected to pour in) The DGBAS announced the Q1 year-on-year economic growth rate: 13.69%. Reporters on the scene likely all reflexively did the same thing: checking when this number last appeared. The answer is Q3 1987, about 39 years ago. In 1987, Taiwan experienced the craziest asset bubble in history. Taiwan stocks surged from under 1,000 points to 12,000 points, housing prices doubled, illegal underground fundraising was everywhere, and even grandmothers at the wet market were discussing which stock would hit the daily limit the next day. That era had an old expression, "Taiwan money flooding the ankles," literally meaning there was so much money it covered the ankles, and everyone was standing in the water. It was a bubble shared by the whole nation; exporters made money, factories raised wages, workers spent the money, housing prices rose accordingly, and every level got a share. Every link in the capital flow was turning. The 13.69% in 2026 is a higher number, but the flow of money is completely different. Open Threads and search for salary-related topics, and you'll find Hsinchu Science Park wives and engineers talking about asset allocation, while other people in the service industry are complaining about bosses who don't even pay for labor and health insurance. The same platform seems to be two different worlds. Indeed, looking at Taiwan as a platform, it is also divided into two worlds. If we look closely at the DGBAS data, Q1 commodity exports grew by 51.1% year-on-year, capital equipment imports increased by 28.44%, and semiconductor equipment imports increased by 17.05%. UBS directly revised Taiwan's full-year GDP up to 8%, and the reason is one word: AI. This is not an era where a hundred flowers bloom; this is a tree growing so large it blocks out the sun, while all other trees die in its shadow. Taiwan's export structure has undergone extreme concentration over the past three years. AI servers, high-bandwidth memory, and advanced packaging—all the items driving the GDP surge point to the same supply chain. For engineers in Hsinchu Science Park and Southern Taiwan Science Park, an annual salary of over 3 million is already the norm, but monthly salaries in traditional manufacturing are still struggling around 40k. This is no longer a question of continuing to surge on the base period of two consecutive years of high growth; it is a phenomenon born from a long-term structure. The money from record-breaking exports has entered corporate accounts. But the money in corporate accounts has not flowed evenly into everyone's pockets. Another manifestation of money flooding the ankles is Taiwan stock ETFs. As of early 2026, the total scale of Taiwan stock ETFs exceeded 4.12 trillion TWD, a historical high. 00919 has seen its annualized dividend yield exceed 10% for 12 consecutive periods, and on April 27, seven of the top ten most traded stocks in the Taiwan market were ETFs. The FSC even implemented the "TSMC Clause," relaxing the single-stock holding limit for funds from 15% to 25%, because TSMC is so large that it would be impossible to legally hold a sufficient proportion without the relaxation. Retail investors use a portion of their monthly salary to buy high-dividend ETFs through regular savings plans. These ETFs are heavily weighted with TSMC, MediaTek, and Hon Hai, which is equivalent to using wage income to bet on the few companies where capital income is most concentrated. If this supply chain continues to soar and the ETF dividends look good, retail investors have also hopped on the ride. According to an