The nation’s economy grew 3.38 percent last quarter, faster than the 3.04 percent gain estimated in November last year, the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) said yesterday.
The quarterly increase lifted full-year economic growth to 2.73 percent for last year, also beating an estimated 2.64 percent increase, the agency said.
The yearly growth outpaced main trade rivals Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea and Japan, the DGBAS said.
The seasonally adjusted quarterly growth rate was 6.96 percent, suggesting that economic expansion is gaining momentum, compared with 2.42 percent three months earlier, it said.
The agency is due to update its growth forecast next month.
The fourth-quarter figure was the best in six quarters, as the nation continued to benefit from trade rerouting and electronics supply-chain realignment, the DGBAS said.
Capital formation in the public and private sectors was the main catalyst with 10.72 percent growth, lifting GDP growth by 2.34 percentage points during the fourth quarter, the agency said.
Local semiconductor firms had aggressively bought capital equipment to maintain their technology leadership and meet deployment demand for next-generation products, it said.
That explained imports of capital equipment more than doubling to US$8.03 billion, which might remain strong this year, it added.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (台積電), the world’s top supplier of chips used in Apple Inc’s iPhones and other smartphone brands, has set its capital expenditure at US$15 billion to US$16 billion this year, higher than last year’s US$14.9 billion.
The bulk of investment pledges by local firms returning from China are expected to materialize this year, lending support to capital formation and overall domestic demand, the agency said.
DOMESTIC DEMAND
Domestic demand boosted economic growth last quarter by adding 4.09 percentage points, while net external demand erased 0.71 percentage points, it said.
Private consumption grew 2.94 percent as retail sales picked up 4.84 percent, while restaurant revenues gained 4.99 percent, it added.
New vehicles and scooters stimulated replacement demand, while promotions by department stores helped boost sales, DGBAS officials said.
Turnover on the local bourse ended earlier downturns by registering a 20.68 percent increase, as global investors raised their holdings in local shares, which are expected to rally on the back of earnings growth, the agency said.
Foreign trade came out of contraction, with exports growing 2.33 percent and imports increasing 4.26 percent, it said.
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