Taiwan was ranked as the third-largest integrated circuit exporter in the world in 2016, overtaking Singapore, the Ministry of Finance said on Friday.
In its latest report on global IC exports, the ministry said that Taiwan’s outbound semiconductor sales increased by an annual 10.6 percent in 2016 to US$86.12 billion.
The figure accounted for 13.6 percent of the global IC exports in 2016 and lifted Taiwan one notch higher in the world rankings to third place, displacing Singapore, the ministry said.
The increase in Taiwan’s IC exports reflected higher global demand for mobile devices, the Internet of Things, automotive electronics, high-performance computing and other applications, the ministry said.
Singapore dropped to fourth place in the global rankings as it saw a 4.1 percent annual decrease in IC exports to US$80.99 billion, accounting for 12.8 percent of the global total, the ministry said.
Hong Kong topped the rankings with IC exports of US$111.86 billion, accounting for 17.6 percent of the global total, the report said.
China was second with IC exports of US$89.46 billion, accounting for 14.1 percent of the global total, ministry data showed.
It said the world’s five largest IC exporters in 2016 were all in Asia, as South Korea was ranked fifth with a 9.1 percent share, ahead of the US with 6.6 percent.
Last year, the semiconductor sector industry remained the backbone of Taiwan’s exports, accounting for 31.4 percent of its total outbound sales, rising from 30.7 percent in 2016 and 27.3 percent in 2015, the report showed.
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