TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The Ministry of Finance said Thursday that Taiwan's exports reached NT$1.58 trillion (US$48.66 billion) in April.

The figure rose nearly 30% from the same period last year, marking the 18th straight month of growth. Total exports for the first four months of this year reached NT$5.8 trillion, a 20.6% year-on-year increase, per CNA.

Tsai Mei-na (蔡美娜), director of the ministry’s statistics department, attributed the increase to a surge in orders and shipments following the Trump administration’s temporary suspension of tariff policies. She noted that growing demand for AI also boosted performance in the semiconductor and electronic components sectors.

Exports of ICT products exceeded NT$611 billion in April, a 60.5% year-on-year increase. Exports of electronic components reached around NT$533 billion, up 26.8%. Tsai said this was the first time since 2004 that ICT exports surpassed those of electronic components.

ICT exports rose from 13.5% of total exports in 2022 to 35% in the first four months of this year, Tsai said. She added that electronics and ICT products accounted for 70% of total exports in this year’s first four months, setting a record for the same period.

Chemical product exports reached NT$50.7 billion, a 15.2% year-on-year increase, mainly driven by a rise in pharmaceutical exports to the US. Meanwhile, mineral product exports totaled approximately NT$29.4 billion, up 13.6%, primarily due to increased demand for diesel.

Tsai also reported that optical and precision instruments exports exceeded NT$28.2 billion, a 13.3% year-on-year increase, driven by higher shipments of semiconductor inspection equipment, aviation instruments, and camera lenses.

However, some sectors saw declines, Tsai said. Exports of plastics and rubber products fell by 3.4% in April, while textile exports decreased by 7% year-on-year. Transportation equipment exports also declined by 5.7% for the month, mainly due to a decrease in bicycle shipments.

Tsai added that imports in April totaled approximately NT$1.24 trillion, up 33%, mainly driven by imports of integrated circuits, ICT products, and semiconductor equipment.