Taiwan’s listed companies carry a combined valuation of roughly $4.3 trillion (c. £3.2tn), narrowly overtaking Europe’s largest equity market in a shift driven almost entirely by global demand for AI chips, tomsHardware reports.

The contrast is striking. Taiwan’s GDP sits at around $977 billion (c. £724bn) against the UK’s $4.3tn, yet its bourse has leapfrogged London’s. TSMC alone accounts for nearly 40% of Taiwan’s entire market capitalisation, a degree of single-company concentration unmatched in any major economy. By comparison, Apple represents roughly 7% of the S&P 500.

South Korea is hot on Taiwan’s heels, trailing by just $140bn (c. £104bn), with the KOSPI already having overtaken Germany and France this year. Analysts at BNP Paribas suggest Seoul could soon surpass London too.

The disparity underlines how narrowly the spoils of the AI infrastructure boom are being shared, with European-listed equities largely sidelined from the semiconductor supercycle reshaping global markets.