1Q24 exports up 12.9%

By ECCT staff writers, MOF

Taiwan’s total exports for the month of March 2024 rose by 18.9% from the same month in 2023 to US$41.82 billion while total imports also rose by 7.1% from a year earlier to US$33.14 billion, according to the monthly report from the Ministry of Finance (MOF). March was the fifth consecutive month of export growth. More significantly than monthly figures, given that January and February figures vary from year to year because Chinese New Year holidays don’t always fall in the same month, exports for the first quarter of 2024 rose by 12.9% from those of 1Q23, marking the second consecutive quarter of export growth and at a higher rate than 4Q23.

In March, exports generated by the information communications and video/audio industry expanded by 165% from a year earlier to a record monthly high of US$12.65 billion, which accounted for 30.3% of Taiwan's total exports, according to the MOF. However, the electronic components industry posted a 5.5% year-on-year decline in exports totalling US$14.70 billion in March, of which semiconductor makers recorded a 6.1% year-on-year fall in outbound sales. For the full 1Q24, ICT product exports rose by 124.5% while electronic component sales fell by 3.3%.