News
December exports rise 11.8%
By ECCT staff writers, MOF
Taiwan’s exports in December 2023 increased by 11.8% to US$39.94 billion compared with the same month in 2022, marking the second consecutive month of rising exports (after rising 3.8% in November), according to the monthly report from the Ministry of Finance (MOF). Imports in the same month fell by 6.5% year-on-year to US$28.84 billion, following a 14.8%. This boosted the monthly trade surplus last month to US$11.1 billion from US$9.8 billion in November and 127% higher than a year earlier, the report said.
The addition of December’s figures brought Taiwan’s full year exports to US$432.48 billion, which was 9.8% lower than the record of US$479.42 billion in 2022 and the third highest total ever, after US$446.37 billion in 2021. Meanwhile, full year imports dropped 17.8% to US$351.62 billion, resulting in a full-year trade surplus of US$80.56 billion, up 56.9% from a year earlier and also the highest level ever.
In terms of products, exports of electronic components fell 10.7% year-on-year and those of non-tech products were about 20% lower than the previous year’s levels. Only shipments of information and communications technology products as well as audio and visual devices bucked the downward trend with annual growth of 28.9% to US$83.36 billion, setting a new record for the category.
Broken down by region, China plus Hong Kong remained the largest destination for Taiwan’s exports in 2023, accounting for 35.2% of all exports (down from 38.8% in 2022 and, of this 22.1% of exports went to China alone) while the United States accounted for 17.6% of exports, ASEAN countries 17.6%, Europe 9.8% and Japan 7.3%.
