Electricity use in Taiwan last month increased 1.61 percent from a year earlier, the fastest growth in 20 months, buoyed by local makers of electronics used in artificial intelligence (AI) applications, the Taiwan Research Institute (台灣綜合研究院) said yesterday.
The latest Electricity Prosperity Index, which the New Taipei City-based research body uses to gauge the health of the industrial and service sectors, climbed into “green” territory for the first time last year, indicating steady growth on the back of rapid AI investment by global technology titans.
The rise was also linked to fading inventory adjustments and a low comparison base a year earlier, the institute said.
Photo: CNA
Use of high-voltage power increased 1.55 percent year-on-year, with demand from the manufacturing sector rising 1.3 percent, hinting at a much-anticipated recovery, it said.
Power use by semiconductor firms last month rose 9 percent from a year earlier to a 13-month high, although suppliers of memory chips and printed circuit boards remained weighed down by negative cyclical movements based on their export orders, it said.
Electricity use among makers of PCs and optical devices was up 5 percent from December 2022 due to greater demand for high-performance computing, cloud services, AI applications and emerging technologies, it said.
Power use by the service sector increased 2.88 percent as local retailers, hospitality operators and tourism service providers enjoyed robust business over the holiday season, the institute said.
Taiwan’s economy likely expanded 5.8 percent year-on-year last month and 5.1 percent in the October-to-December quarter, with last year as a whole likely to show a mild pickup of 1.4 percent, it said.
Demand for electricity in the high-tech sector might decline this quarter due to a low season and fewer working days than average, the institute said, adding that mounting geopolitical conflicts are adding uncertainty to the economy.
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