Taiwan was the world's 17th-largest trading nation last year, down two notches from the previous year, according to the annual world trade report released on Tuesday by the WTO.
The nation's exports amounted to US$196.6 billion last year, up 8 percent over the year-earlier level, making Taiwan the 16th-largest exporter in the world and the sixth-largest exporter in Asia behind China, Japan, Hong Kong, South Korea and Singapore.
Taiwan's export value registered 8 percent year-on-year growth, ahead of Japan's 5 percent, but behind China's 28 percent, Singapore's 16 percent, Hong Kong's 12 percent and South Korea's 10 percent. Owing to a 10 percent increase in total imports into Taiwan, the nation's trade surplus slid from US$14.5 billion in 2004 to US$10.3 billion last year.
The report said Taiwan's performance, which relies heavily on the export of electronic products, could have been affected by the slowdown in the global demand for these products.
Soaring oil and raw material prices caused an increase in the costs of imports, which brought down Taiwan's trade surplus, the report said.
Last year, world trade registered a growth rate of 6 percent, which was much lower than the 9 percent recorded for the previous year. The trade value, however, rose 13 percent last year and topped US$10 trillion for the first time. The WTO predicted that world trade would expand by 7 percent this year.
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