TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwan’s domestic share of export order production climbed to its highest in nearly 15 years in 2024 as firms shifted from China to ASEAN, the economics ministry said Monday.
According to a press release, Taiwan’s domestic production share hit 51.4% last year, up 2.3 percentage points year-on-year, thanks to increased demand for high-performance computing and AI-related products. Production in China fell to a record low of 33.1%, while ASEAN nations rose to 9.2%, reflecting global supply chain realignments, per CNA.
Among 2,833 companies surveyed, the ministry recorded a nearly 99% response rate. It said Taiwanese firms are moving production capacity to ASEAN as trade tensions and geopolitical risks drive diversification away from China.
Textiles still dominate Taiwanese manufacturing in Vietnam, but electronics, information and communications technology, and sporting goods production lines have expanded rapidly across ASEAN in recent years. Vietnam alone accounted for 3.4% of the total export production share last year.
Companies largely relied on self-production or subsidiaries, which accounted for 82.7% of orders, up 1 percentage point from 2023. Contract manufacturing stayed flat at 9.7%, while purchases from other producers dropped to 7.6% as chip distributors saw weaker demand.
Of those surveyed, 28% reported overseas production this year, with most citing customer requirements and cost savings as reasons to stay abroad. Convenient local sourcing of raw materials was another key factor for maintaining production outside Taiwan.
Most goods made abroad were re-exported to third countries rather than shipped back to Taiwan, the ministry noted, with ICT, machinery, and basic metals among the top categories. Only 5.6% of overseas production was sent back to the domestic market.
As for new production lines, ASEAN took the lead at 60.9% of relocations, with Vietnam claiming 26.1%, showing the benefits of tariff breaks, geographic proximity, and growing local markets under the government’s New Southbound Policy.
