Taiwan’s exports accounted for 1.7 percent of worldwide exports last year, making it the 18th-largest exporter, the same place it held the previous year, according to global commodity statistics released by the WTO on Tuesday last week.
Taiwan’s exports last year hit a record of US$335.9 billion, up from US$317.2 billion in 2017, the Ministry of Finance said.
China was the biggest exporter last year, accounting for 12.8 percent, or US$2.49 trillion, the WTO data showed.
The second-largest global exporter was the US, with US$1.66 trillion in exported goods, accounting for 8.5 percent of the world total, the data showed. Germany was third, with 8 percent (US$1.56 trillion) and fourth was Japan, with 3.8 percent of global exports.
In terms of global imports, the total was estimated at US$19.9 trillion, representing a 10.1 percent increase from 2017, the data showed.
The top five importers were the US at No. 1, followed by China, Germany, Japan and the UK, the data showed.
Taiwan’s total imports were valued at US$286.3 billion and its global ranking was 17th, with 1.4 percent of the global total, up two spots from 19th in 2017, the WTO data showed.
Growth in global merchandise trade would fall to 2.6 percent this year — down from 3 percent growth last year, WTO economists said.
In September last year, the WTO said trade would increase by 3.9 percent last year and 3.7 percent this year.
Trade growth could rebound to 3 percent next year, if trade tensions between China and the US decline, the WTO said.
“With trade tensions running high, no one should be surprised by this outlook,” WTO Director-General Roberto Azevedo said in a statement.
“It is increasingly urgent that we resolve tensions and focus on charting a positive path forward for global trade which responds to the real challenges in today’s economy,” Azevedo said.
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