TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwan’s export orders ended 14 months of decline by expanding 1% in November from the same month one year earlier, the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) said Wednesday (Dec. 20).
Orders reached US$50.63 billion (NT$1.58 trillion) in November and US$517.23 billion for the period from January to November. Nevertheless, the November figure was 4.2% lower than in October, while the total for the first 11 months of the year fell 15.8% from the same period in 2022, the Liberty Times reported.
Factors behind November’s year-on-year increase included pandemic prevention restrictions in China last year, and the progress of AI, High Performance Computing, and other new technologies, the MOEA said. Demand for more traditional products however, was still weak, according to the latest data.
Orders for the optics sector rose by 9.8% as prices for TV screens were still higher than in November 2022, the MOEA said. Information and communication products saw their orders surge by 10%, with electronics up 3.5%.