Electricity consumption among heavy users last month rose 0.87 percent from a year earlier, as the launch of new tech gadgets and an ongoing artificial intelligence (AI) boom bolstered local firms, the Taiwan Research Institute (TRI, 台灣綜合研究院) said yesterday.
The Electricity Prosperity Index, which the institute uses to gauge the health of the industrial and service sectors, flashed “yellow-red,” suggesting the nation’s economy picked up further steam despite a lingering imbalanced growth.
The institute attributed the momentum to the launches of iPhone 16s, Apple watches and other consumer electronics.
Photo: CNA
The launches help explain why the overall use of high-voltage electricity grew 1.52 percent last month from the same time last year, while it increased 6.7 percent for local semiconductor firms, it said.
Electricity usage by manufacturers and service providers increased 1.17 and 2.84 percent year-on-year respectively, it added.
Taiwanese retailers, wholesale operators and hospitality providers fared resilient on the back of a stable job market and healthy household incomes, although revenge consumption that followed the COVID-19 pandemic tapered off, the institute said.
At the same time, manufacturers of non-tech products remained under challenge from listless global demand and overproduction by rivals overseas, it said.
TRI said it is upbeat the economy would thrive in this quarter, the traditional high season for technology products, retailers and hospitality operators.
The institute predicted that annual GDP growth would have reached 3.1 percent last month and 3.3 percent in the third quarter, a slowdown from a 5.83 percent growth in the first half due to a high comparison base.
The Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics is to reveal the third-quarter GDP data later this month.
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