E-commerce transactions in Taiwan topped NT$1.8 trillion (US$55.85 billion) last year, 1.7 times higher than that in 2019, National Credit Card center data showed yesterday.
The figure was based on the amount of credit card transactions last year, which grew from NT$660 billion in 2019, the center said.
The number of online transactions also rose from 370 million in 2019 to 1.57 billion last year, it said.
Photo: EPA-EFE
About half of the transactions in 2019 were for purchases of less than NT$500, and that percentage surged to more than 70 percent last year, it said.
This shows that people are more engaged in online transactions, including for purchases of daily items or necessities, it said.
Meanwhile, cross-border e-commerce transactions jumped 92.6 percent from 2019 to last year, with the annual amount exceeding NT$100 billion from 2022 to last year.
Cross-border transactions rose 63.5 percent from 2022 to last year, significantly outperforming overall online transaction growth of 35 percent, the center said.
However, the total amount of cross-border purchases was only about 10 percent of overall online transactions, indicating that people still shop largely on domestic e-commerce platforms.
Regarding items and services purchased online, more than 40 percent of the amount was for general retail items.
Online purchases for restaurant services accounted for 11 percent of the total last year, up from 2.2 percent in 2019.
Women accounted for about 54 percent of the total, the data showed.
People aged 30 to 60 mostly bought items and services from general merchandise retailers, while those aged 60 or older spent more on leisure and entertainment services.
Young people spent more on food delivery services, the center said.
Separately, Chunghwa Post and the Taiwan High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday signed a memorandum of understanding to deter financial fraud by monitoring and intercepting suspicious transactions and sharing intelligence.
As of last month, post offices across the nation intercepted 510 cases of fraud this year, with the amount of funds involved topping NT$230.66 million, up 50 percent from the same quarter last year.
The postal company also reported that suspicious accounts numbered 4,816 in the first quarter, down 8.5 percent from a year earlier.
Chunghwa Post chairman Wang Kwo-tsai (王國材) earlier this month said that the company had identified 10,619 suspicious accounts last year, and the goal this year was to halve the number.
“As more migrant workers unknowingly get involved in financial fraud, we want to remind them that they should prevent their accounts from being used as straw accounts,” the company said.
Former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) on Monday called for greater cooperation between Taiwan, Lithuania and the EU to counter threats to information security, including attacks on undersea cables and other critical infrastructure. In a speech at Vilnius University in the Lithuanian capital, Tsai highlighted recent incidents in which vital undersea cables — essential for cross-border data transmission — were severed in the Taiwan Strait and the Baltic Sea over the past year. Taiwanese authorities suspect Chinese sabotage in the incidents near Taiwan’s waters, while EU leaders have said Russia is the likely culprit behind similar breaches in the Baltic. “Taiwan and our European
The Taipei District Court sentenced babysitters Liu Tsai-hsuan (劉彩萱) and Liu Jou-lin (劉若琳) to life and 18 years in prison respectively today for causing the death of a one-year-old boy in December 2023. The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said that Liu Tsai-hsuan was entrusted with the care of a one-year-old boy, nicknamed Kai Kai (剴剴), in August 2023 by the Child Welfare League Foundation. From Sept. 1 to Dec. 23 that year, she and her sister Liu Jou-lin allegedly committed acts of abuse against the boy, who was rushed to the hospital with severe injuries on Dec. 24, 2023, but did not
Taiwanese indie band Sunset Rollercoaster and South Korean outfit Hyukoh collectively received the most nominations at this year’s Golden Melody Awards, earning a total of seven nods from the jury on Wednesday. The bands collaborated on their 2024 album AAA, which received nominations for best band, best album producer, best album design and best vocal album recording. “Young Man,” a single from the album, earned nominations for song of the year and best music video, while another track, “Antenna,” also received a best music video nomination. Late Hong Kong-American singer Khalil Fong (方大同) was named the jury award winner for his 2024 album
Hong Kong singer Eason Chan’s (陳奕迅) concerts in Kaohsiung this weekend have been postponed after he was diagnosed with Covid-19 this morning, the organizer said today. Chan’s “FEAR and DREAMS” concert which was scheduled to be held in the coming three days at the Kaohsiung Arena would be rescheduled to May 29, 30 and 31, while the three shows scheduled over the next weekend, from May 23 to 25, would be held as usual, Universal Music said in a statement. Ticket holders can apply for a full refund or attend the postponed concerts with the same seating, the organizer said. Refund arrangements would
RSS