Industrial production in Taiwan last month increased 11.25 percent year-on-year — the 21st consecutive month of annual growth — but decreased 2.36 percent month-on-month, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday.
The ministry uses industrial production to gauge output in the nation’s five main industries: manufacturing, mining and quarrying, electricity and gas supply, water supply and architecture engineering.
Manufacturing, which contributes 90 percent of overall industrial production, increased 17.28 percent year-on-year last month, rising for the 21st consecutive month, the ministry said.
Photo: Wang Han-ping, Taipei Times
“We did see a monthly dip in industrial production last month, likely due to supply chain disruptions and an ongoing parts shortage in the electronics sector,” Department of Statistics Deputy Director-General Huang Wei-jie (黃偉傑) said.
Among local manufacturing sectors, the output of electronic components rose 15.72 percent year-on-year, thanks to strong demand for 5G and high-performance computing applications, which boosted production of semiconductors and other electronics, the ministry said.
The output of computers, electronics and optical products rose 4.88 percent year-on-year last month due to robust market demand and capacity expansion, the ministry said.
The non-tech sector continued to benefit from a global economic recovery, rising business investment and more infrastructural projects, which led the output of machinery, base metals and chemicals to increase 25.05 percent, 9.02 percent and 2.71 percent respectively last month from a year earlier, it said.
Vehicle and auto parts makers’ output increased 2.82 percent year-on-year due to increased orders, it said.
In the first 10 months of this year, industrial production rose by 13.75 percent compared with the same period last year on continued strong demand for tech and non-tech products, the ministry said.
Retail, wholesale, and food and beverage sales for last month broke October records, the ministry said, attributing the results to the combined effects of an improving COVID-19 situation at home and distribution of Quintuple Stimulus Vouchers, Huang said.
“This month we finally took out the acrylic separators at restaurants, which is a sign that we have returned to relative normality, and has helped food and beverage sales get back on track,” he said.
Food and beverage sales, which showed double-digit contractions for five months in a row, returned to annual growth last month, with sales increasing 1.4 percent to NT$67.6 billion (US$2.43 billion).
Retail sales totaled NT$373 billion, up 6.6 percent year-on-year, thanks to higher commodity prices, relaxed COVID-19 restrictions and the effect of the stimulus vouchers, Huang said.
Wholesale revenue rose 14.3 percent annually to NT$1.02 trillion last month as strong domestic and export demand, plus higher commodity prices boosted sales, he said.
National Central University economist Dachran Wu (吳大任) said that inflation needs to be taken into account when considering the headline figures.
“As the sales figures are recorded in nominal terms, inflation could also result in inflated revenue figures,” he said.
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