Taiwan’s economy is expected to have grown at a faster pace in the first quarter of the year, driven by a rebound in exports. According to a Reuters poll of 18 economists, Gross Domestic Product (GDP) likely expanded by 5.65% year-on-year during January-March. This marks an improvement from the 4.93% growth seen in the fourth quarter of the previous year.
Taiwan’s technology exporters, particularly chipmakers, benefited from increased demand for products that power AI applications. This has helped the manufacturing sector regain momentum and unemployment levels remain low. The strong growth in the first quarter was supported by a 12.9% increase in exports compared to the fourth quarter’s 3.4% expansion.
SinoPac Securities Investment analyst Mickey Liao noted that the first quarter is expected to see the highest GDP growth this year, with a projected slip to 3.5% in the second quarter. The government’s statistics bureau raised its forecast for full-year 2024 growth to 3.43% in February, up from a previous prediction of 3.35%. Last year, Taiwan’s economy grew at its slowest pace in 14 years, expanding by 1
