TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – On Jan. 31, the Taiwanese government’s Directorate General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics released a report on Taiwanese workers overseas for the 2016 calendar year.



The report is entitled “Statistical Report on Taiwanese Workers abroad in 2016” (105年國人赴海外工作人數統計結果), and it reveals some interesting data.



First, it suggests that from the years 2012 to 2016, the number of Taiwanese seeking employment in China has decreased year by year, even though the vast majority of Taiwanese working overseas are still doing so in China. In 2012, the percentage of Taiwanese working in China was 61.6 percent of the total, but by 2016 that share had decreased to 51.9 percent, representing an average annual decrease of 5.8 percent.



On the other hand, over the course of 2016 alone, there was a marked increase in the number of Taiwanese who had found employment in the United States, with an increase of 7,700 people of the year 2015. Taiwanese workers in the U.S. maintained a steady increased over a three year period, reaching 99,000 people in 2016.

In total in 2016 there were reportedly 728,000 Taiwanese employed overseas, which reflected a .6 percent increase (about 4,000 people) over the number for 2015, reports Liberty Times.



Taiwanese working in China in 2016 numbered approximately 407,000 which was a decrease of 13,000 people compared to 2015. Taiwanese working in Southeast Asian countries numbered about 111,000 which was a slight decrease of 1,000 compared to 2015.

Outside of China, Southeast Asia, and the United States, the number of Taiwanese working in all other parts of the world numbered approximately 111,000. In 2012 that number was only 86,000, according to reports.

Forty eight percent of overseas Taiwanese workers are between the ages of 30 and 49, and the report also reveals that 73 percent of them have college degrees.



According to reports the decrease of Taiwanese workers headed to China may possibly be attributed to a decrease in Taiwanese investment in China over the past few years.