TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The economic outlook for Taiwan is the best it has been for a year, with the main economic indicator turning to yellow-blue in November for only the second time in 2023, the National Development Council (NDC) said Wednesday (Dec. 27).

Taiwan uses a five-color scale to symbolize its overall economic performance. Blue, which dominated most of the year, stands for contraction, while yellow-blue represents sluggishness, green indicates stable growth, yellow-red stands for a warming economy, and red means the economy is booming or overheating.

The yellow-blue light for November amounted to a recovery following a blue light in October. The previous yellow-blue light came in September, with previous months in 2023 flashing blue.

According to the points system associated with the lights, the economy added four points in November to reach 20. The sectors showing the strongest recovery included exports, wholesale, and restaurants, per CNA.

The NDC said the improvement showed confidence as exports, employment, and the stock market all showed positive performances toward the end of 2023. However, the strength of the recovery was tempered by overseas factors, including war, inflation, interest rates, and weak growth in the European Union and Japan, according to the NDC.