Exports last month gained 3.4 percent to US$38.81 billion, ending 12 straight months of decline, thanks to strong demand for technology products related to artificial intelligence (AI), the Ministry of Finance said yesterday.
The release of new-generation consumer electronic products, notably smartphones, and a low comparison base from the same period last year helped boost exports, Department of Statistics Director-General Beatrice Tsai (蔡美娜) said.
“It is safe to say that exports are coming out of the woods” following a year of inventory adjustments, Tsai told a news briefing.
Photo: CNA
The crucial economic bellwether might lead to no or a minor contraction this month, while helping to stage a healthy recovery in the coming months, she said.
Nevertheless, shipments of electronics, primarily chips, shrank 4.3 percent year-on-year, but should return to positive territory next month, she added.
An earnings conference next week by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (台積電) — which counts Apple Inc, Nvidia Corp, Intel Corp, Advanced Micro Devices and other technology giants among its customers — would shed more light on the state of the industry, Tsai said.
Shipments of information and communication technology (ICT) products surged 59.8 percent to a record US$8.26 billion, underpinning the turnaround in exports and making up 17 percent of overall exports, she said.
Demand for AI-related products accounted for double-digit percentage increases in shipments bound for the US and Europe, where technology firms are aggressively developing and building up AI equipment and solutions despite stubborn inflation, the ministry said.
Shipments to ASEAN markets soared 24.8 percent to US$7.48 billion, making the bloc Taiwan’s second-largest export destination, aided by robust demand for electronics and ICT products, Tsai said, adding that a global supply chain realignment also contributed to the rise.
Exports to China fell 8.8 percent, easing to a single-digit percentage for the first time in 14 months, a positive sign, she said.
Non-tech products also benefited, with exports of chemical and mineral products rising 10.3 percent and 0.9 percent respectively on the back of inventory restocking demand and higher international oil prices, she said.
By contrast, imports fell 12.2 percent to US$28.49 billion, as local firms refrained from buying semiconductor equipment and raw materials used for exports, she said.
That gave Taiwan a trade surplus of US$10.32 billion, more than twice what it was a year earlier, the ministry said.
For the third quarter, exports fell 5.1 percent to US$114.9 billion, while imports dropped 19 percent to US$87.49 billion, beating the government’s forecast in August.
Exports fell 13.8 percent to US$316.98 billion in the first nine months of this year, while imports dropped 19.7 percent to US$263.12 billion, worse than other trade rivals such as South Korea, Japan, Singapore and China.
High comparison bases in the past few years due to the trade effects of COVID-19 accounted for Taiwan’s poor showings and highlight its vulnerability to global technology downcycles, Tsai said.
Taiwan is projected to lose a working-age population of about 6.67 million people in two waves of retirement in the coming years, as the nation confronts accelerating demographic decline and a shortage of younger workers to take their place, the Ministry of the Interior said. Taiwan experienced its largest baby boom between 1958 and 1966, when the population grew by 3.78 million, followed by a second surge of 2.89 million between 1976 and 1982, ministry data showed. In 2023, the first of those baby boom generations — those born in the late 1950s and early 1960s — began to enter retirement, triggering
ECONOMIC BOOST: Should the more than 23 million people eligible for the NT$10,000 handouts spend them the same way as in 2023, GDP could rise 0.5 percent, an official said Universal cash handouts of NT$10,000 (US$330) are to be disbursed late next month at the earliest — including to permanent residents and foreign residents married to Taiwanese — pending legislative approval, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. The Executive Yuan yesterday approved the Special Act for Strengthening Economic, Social and National Security Resilience in Response to International Circumstances (因應國際情勢強化經濟社會及民生國安韌性特別條例). The NT$550 billion special budget includes NT$236 billion for the cash handouts, plus an additional NT$20 billion set aside as reserve funds, expected to be used to support industries. Handouts might begin one month after the bill is promulgated and would be completed within
The National Development Council (NDC) yesterday unveiled details of new regulations that ease restrictions on foreigners working or living in Taiwan, as part of a bid to attract skilled workers from abroad. The regulations, which could go into effect in the first quarter of next year, stem from amendments to the Act for the Recruitment and Employment of Foreign Professionals (外國專業人才延攬及僱用法) passed by lawmakers on Aug. 29. Students categorized as “overseas compatriots” would be allowed to stay and work in Taiwan in the two years after their graduation without obtaining additional permits, doing away with the evaluation process that is currently required,
IMPORTANT BACKER: China seeks to expel US influence from the Indo-Pacific region and supplant Washington as the global leader, MAC Minister Chiu Chui-cheng said China is preparing for war to seize Taiwan, Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said in Washington on Friday, warning that Taiwan’s fall would trigger a regional “domino effect” endangering US security. In a speech titled “Maintaining the Peaceful and Stable Status Quo Across the Taiwan Strait is in Line with the Shared Interests of Taiwan and the United States,” Chiu said Taiwan’s strategic importance is “closely tied” to US interests. Geopolitically, Taiwan sits in a “core position” in the first island chain — an arc stretching from Japan, through Taiwan and the Philippines, to Borneo, which is shared by
RSS