TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwan’s gross domestic product (GDP) shrank by 0.86% in the final quarter of 2022, ending 26 consecutive quarters of expansion and dashing hopes for 3% growth for the full year, the government said Wednesday (Jan. 18).

The Directorate General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) put GDP growth for 2022 at 2.43%, compared to a prediction of 3.06% it made in late November. At the time, the Cabinet department still expected 1.52% growth for the final quarter of 2022.

A worse than expected export performance was behind the sudden fourth quarter drop, the largest in 13 years, the Liberty Times reported. According to the Ministry of Finance (MOF), exports in Oct.-Dec. 2022 totaled $111.8 billion (NT$3.38 trillion), a drop of 8.6% from the same period in 2021. Instead of the $117.6 billion forecast by the DGBAS.