Taiwan posted a year-on-year increase in exports of more than 2 percent for the first nine months of this year, after inflationary adjustments, despite trade frictions between the US and China affecting global demand, the Ministry of Finance said.
Data compiled by the ministry showed that real growth in exports was 2.8 percent in the nine-month period, compared with a 2.5 percent fall in nominal terms.
The real export growth figure excludes inflationary effects to better reflect the reality of Taiwan’s export performance, the ministry said.
In terms of real exports growth, Taiwan outperformed the three other Asian Tigers, with Hong Kong down 6 percent in the January-to-August period, South Korea down 1.4 percent through September and Singapore down 4 percent through August, it said.
Taiwan has enjoyed gradual growth in real exports this year, the ministry said, adding that growth in the first quarter was up 0.7 percent from a year earlier, with a rise of 3.8 percent in the second quarter and 4.9 percent in the third quarter, while Hong Kong, South Korea and Singapore remained in the doldrums in terms of outbound sales.
In terms of nominal export growth, Taiwan was also relatively resilient, posting a 2.5 percent year-on-year decline in the first nine months, while Hong Kong dropped 4.2 percent from January to August, Singapore recorded a 5.8 percent fall in the same period and South Korea posed a steep drop of 9.8 percent for January to September, the ministry said.
Among the 12 export-oriented economies in the region that featured in the ministry’s report — other than the Philippines, India and Vietnam, which posted 4.2 percent, 2.5 percent and 7 percent year-on-year increases respectively in exports in nominal terms so far this year — the other nine reported falls.
The other economies in the 12 are China, Japan, Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia, the ministry said.
Weakness in exports in the 12 economies largely reflected the impact of trade disputes between Washington and China, although China only had a 0.1 percent year-on-year decline in the first nine months, ministry data showed.
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