Industrial production climbed 39.2 percent year-on-year last month, posting double-digit growth for the fifth consecutive month, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday.
The industrial production index stood at a record high of 120.3 last month, up 24.12 percent from February, with manufacturing contributing most significantly to the expansion, the ministry said.
“Manufacturing production was up 42.01 percent from a year ago last month, followed by the electricity and gas supply sector with 8.74 percent,” Fung Tein-chi (馮田琪), deputy director-general of the ministry’s statistics department, told a media briefing.
Industrial production in the first quarter surged 47.12 percent from a year ago, which the ministry said was the highest in history for that period, with manufacturing output increasing 50.59 percent.
“Manufacturing production will continue to expand at a steady pace this month,” Fung said, adding that more than 90 percent of manufacturers would either raise or keep production at current levels.
“Taiwan’s industrial production is near pre-crisis levels and in seasonally adjusted terms has already surpassed pre-recession levels,” Tine Olsen, a Sydney-based economist at Moody’s Economy.com, wrote in a note released yesterday.
Taiwan is “enjoying strong external demand for its electronics and producer goods,” she said, adding that exports are lifting industrial production.
The ministry also released the latest data on domestic consumption, showing two-digit growth in sales of wholesale, retail and food services last month.
Total sales for the wholesale, retail and food and beverage sectors rose 13.85 percent year-on-year to NT$1.11 trillion (US$35.237 billion) last month, with the wholesale industry seeing the highest jump at 17.13 percent, it said.
“Taiwan’s domestic trade has made a strong comeback since one year ago, and March’s reading confirmed its strength,” Olsen said in the note.
Revenue growth in the wholesale sector hit NT$812.4 billion last month, retail sales rose 6.11 percent to NT$270.1 billion and sales of food and beverage services totaled NT$27.7 billion, up 2.6 percent from a year earlier, the ministry’s data showed.
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