Taiwan’s GDP growth was 8.16 percent last quarter, beating the government’s February forecast by 1.96 percentage points, as demand for all product categories grew, thanks to stronger exports and private investment, the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics said yesterday.
The figure is the best in more than a decade and could hoist full-year growth to 5.1 percent, from 4.64 percent, in the absence of corrections for the rest of the year, national income section official Wu Pei-shuan (吳佩璇) told a news conference in Taipei.
“Exports and private investment turned out way stronger than we expected two months earlier,” Wu said.
Photo: CNA
Exports soared 24.58 percent during the January-to-March period, faster than a 16.77 percent increase the statistics agency projected, as local firms benefited from an improving global economy, Wu said.
Shipments of electronics spiked 28.37 percent, while information and communications technology devices rose 29.6 percent, the official said.
Taiwan is home to the world’s largest contract suppliers of chips, camera lenses, flat panels, battery packs and other devices used in smartphones, TVs and laptops, as well as artificial intelligence and Internet of Things applications.
Business in traditional sectors also increased with advances of more than 20 percent in exports of machinery, plastics, chemicals and base metal products, which are signs that the recovery is broad-based rather than limited to tech firms as it was last year, Wu said.
External demand contributed 4.53 percentage points to first-quarter GDP, suggesting that other components also made contributions, the agency said.
Capital formation by the public and private sectors expanded 8.29 percent, as imports of capital equipment rose 18.33 percent year-on-year, Wu said.
Wu said that the statistics agency had forecast a slowdown in purchases of capital equipment from record-high numbers a year earlier, but the reality proved different.
Private investment is strong amid local chipmakers, memorychip makers, and chip testing and packaging service providers, Wu said, adding that petrochemical and other non-tech companies also bolstered investment to meet growing business needs.
Private consumption gained 2.08 percent, reversing four quarters of decline, as retail sales grew 9.08 percent, while restaurant revenues picked up 7.38 percent, although border controls continued to weigh on foreign tourist arrivals, the agency said.
The local bourse — with daily turnover more than doubling from a year earlier — also lent support, it said.
Government spending also increased 4.32 percent, adding 0.58 percentage points to the economy, it added.
In all, domestic demand rose 4.09 percent and lifted GDP growth by 3.63 percentage points, it said.
The statistics agency is to update its growth projections on May 28.
DEFENDING DEMOCRACY: Taiwan shares the same values as those that fought in WWII, and nations must unite to halt the expansion of a new authoritarian bloc, Lai said The government yesterday held a commemoration ceremony for Victory in Europe (V-E) Day, joining the rest of the world for the first time to mark the anniversary of the end of World War II in Europe. Taiwan honoring V-E Day signifies “our growing connections with the international community,” President William Lai (賴清德) said at a reception in Taipei on the 80th anniversary of V-E Day. One of the major lessons of World War II is that “authoritarianism and aggression lead only to slaughter, tragedy and greater inequality,” Lai said. Even more importantly, the war also taught people that “those who cherish peace cannot
STEADFAST FRIEND: The bills encourage increased Taiwan-US engagement and address China’s distortion of UN Resolution 2758 to isolate Taiwan internationally The Presidential Office yesterday thanked the US House of Representatives for unanimously passing two Taiwan-related bills highlighting its solid support for Taiwan’s democracy and global participation, and for deepening bilateral relations. One of the bills, the Taiwan Assurance Implementation Act, requires the US Department of State to periodically review its guidelines for engagement with Taiwan, and report to the US Congress on the guidelines and plans to lift self-imposed limitations on US-Taiwan engagement. The other bill is the Taiwan International Solidarity Act, which clarifies that UN Resolution 2758 does not address the issue of the representation of Taiwan or its people in
The Philippines yesterday criticized a “high-risk” maneuver by a Chinese vessel near the disputed Scarborough Shoal (Huangyan Island, 黃岩島) in a rare incident involving warships from the two navies. The Scarborough Shoal — a triangular chain of reefs and rocks in the contested South China Sea — has been a flash point between the countries since China seized it from the Philippines in 2012. Taiwan also claims the shoal. Monday’s encounter took place approximately 11.8 nautical miles (22km) southeast” of the Scarborough Shoal, the Philippine military said, during ongoing US-Philippine military exercises that Beijing has criticized as destabilizing. “The Chinese frigate BN 554 was
Taiwanese Olympic badminton men’s doubles gold medalist Wang Chi-lin (王齊麟) and his new partner, Chiu Hsiang-chieh (邱相榤), clinched the men’s doubles title at the Yonex Taipei Open yesterday, becoming the second Taiwanese team to win a title in the tournament. Ranked 19th in the world, the Taiwanese duo defeated Kang Min-hyuk and Ki Dong-ju of South Korea 21-18, 21-15 in a pulsating 43-minute final to clinch their first doubles title after teaming up last year. Wang, the men’s doubles gold medalist at the 2020 and 2024 Olympics, partnered with Chiu in August last year after the retirement of his teammate Lee Yang
RSS