Taiwanese and Japanese companies posted the highest growth in dividend payouts in Asia Pacific during the second quarter of this year, paying out a combined $57.5bn.

This is according to Janus Henderson’s Global Dividend and Buyback Index report, which found that companies across the region continue to grow their shareholder returns.

Dividends were underpinned by strength in markets such as Japan, which delivered one of the strongest dividend growth rates globally and leads the region in share buybacks.

Japan’s dividend payments rose to $52.6bn, representing 18.2% underlying growth; meanwhile its share buybacks reached $36.3bn.

This comes as corporate behaviour in Japanese companies continues to shift, placing a greater emphasis on capital efficiency and shareholder returns.

Taiwan was another standout country, delivering the strongest underlying dividend growth in the region of 33.3%, paying out $4.9bn mostly from Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company.

Sat Duhra, Asia Dividend Income portfolio manager at Janus Henderson Investors said: “Asia Pacific delivered resilient underlying dividend growth during the second quarter despite payment timing effects impacting headline figures.”

“China continued to underpin regional payouts, while strong growth in markets such as Taiwan and South Korea demonstrates the breadth of shareholder returns across the region.”

China was the largest dividend payer in the region, distributing $61.8bn, up 4.4% and accounting for more than half of Asia Pacific ex-Japan’s total payouts.

South Korea was another significant contributor to payouts in the region, posting dividend payments of $12.9bn, up 8.7%. It was also the largest regional contributor to share buybacks, totalling $11.6bn.

Duhra said: “As companies balance investment opportunities with returning capital to shareholders, we continue to see a constructive backdrop for shareholder distributions across the region.”

“Combined with the ongoing growth in buyback activity, this highlights the importance of shareholder returns as a key component of long-term value creation.”

More broadly, Janus Henderson Investors expects global dividend growth of between 5% to 6% in 2026, and growth of 7% to 8% in share buybacks.

The firm said the outlook is supported by resilient corporate earnings and strong cash generation across financials and technology.

Financials is still the world’s largest dividend-paying industry, representing 33.9% of total global dividends, up 8.1% from the prior year.

However, technology has emerged as the fastest-growing industry with dividend growth of 23.5% and is now the largest source of share buybacks globally, repurchasing $121bn of shares during the quarter.