Taiwan’s exports of toys, and gaming and sports items last year reached a 23-year high, largely because fitness awareness is on the rise worldwide, boosting demand for fitness equipment, the Ministry of Finance said on Friday.
Outbound sales of toys, and gaming and sports items totaled US$2.43 billion, up 7.9 percent from a year earlier, ministry data showed.
Exports of fitness equipment totaled US$1.05 billion last year, up 17.7 percent from a year earlier, the data showed.
The spike in fitness equipment exports reflected Taiwan’s increasing strength in research and development in the area, as well as solid global demand, the ministry said.
However, despite the increase, toys, and gaming and sports items made up only 0.7 percent of Taiwan’s total outbound sales, compared with the peak of 4 percent in 1992, or US$3.3 billion, it said.
The US was the largest buyer of Taiwanese toys, and gaming and sports items last year, accounting for 48.1 percent of the total, ahead of China (9 percent), the UK (4 percent), Germany (3.4 percent) and the Netherlands (3.3 percent).
The US was the largest buyer of sports items at 62.4 percent, with the Netherlands and the UK a distant second, the ministry said.
The US bought 33.4 percent of Taiwan’s golfing exports last year, ahead of China (26.5 percent), Japan (15.4 percent), the UK (6.1 percent), South Korea (4.2 percent) and Vietnam (3 percent), the data showed.
China’s share of golfing equipment purchases from Taiwan might rise, as the number of people taking up the sport there is increasing, the ministry said.
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