TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – The government estimates Taiwan’s gross domestic product expanded 13.72% during the first half of the year, the largest increase in 50 years, reports said Friday.
The Directorate General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics also put its advance estimate for the second quarter of the year at 12.92%, more than 2% higher than the 10.83% it predicted in May. Strong overseas and domestic demand tied to AI products fueled the higher-than-expected growth figures, per UDN.
If forecasts for the rest of 2026 do not change, the overall economic growth for 2026 will be more than 10%, the report said. The optimistic estimates come despite lower-than-expected exports during the second quarter.
Taiwan exports totaled NT$7.13 trillion (US$220.93 billion) from April to June. While the figure amounted to a surge of 43.7% over the same period in 2025, it was 0.7% lower than the directorate general’s forecast.
The stable growth of demand for AI products, private investment, and consumption all helped to fuel the gross domestic product, UDN reported. Considering all factors contributing to the country’s economy, growth for the whole year is likely to end higher than 10%.
