Taiwan real export growth tops 2% in 1st 9 months of year

Taipei, Oct. 19 (CNA) At a time when trade friction between the United States and China is affecting global demand, export-oriented Taiwan still posted a year-on-year increase of more than 2 percent in outbound sales for the first nine months of the year, after inflationary adjustments, according to the Ministry of Finance (MOF).

Data compiled by the ministry shows that real export growth in Taiwan hit 2.8 percent in the nine month period, compared with a 2.5 percent fall in nominal terms.

The MOF said the real export growth figure came after excluding inflationary effects to better reflect the reality of Taiwan's export performance.

In terms of real export growth, Taiwan outperformed the three other Asian tigers which all suffered a year-on-year decline in the nine months: Hong Kong (down 6.0 percent, January-August), South Korea (down 1.4 percent, January-September) and Singapore (down 4.0 percent, January-August), the data showed.

The ministry said Taiwan has enjoyed gradual real export growth this year, adding that growth in the first quarter was up 0.7 percent from a year earlier, with a rise of 3.8 percent in the second quarter and 4.9 percent increase in the third quarter, while Hong Kong, South Korea and Singapore remain in the doldrums in terms of outbound sales.

In terms of nominal export growth, Taiwan was also relatively resilient, posting a 2.5 percent year-on-year decline in the first nine months, while Hong Kong dropped 4.2 percent from January-August, Singapore recorded a 5.8 percent fall in the same period and South Korea a steep drop of 9.8 percent for January-September, the MOF said.

Among the 12 export-oriented economies in the region that featured in the MOF report, other than the Philippines, India and Vietnam, which posted 4.2 percent, 2.5 percent and 7.0 percent year-on-year increases, respectively, in exports in nominal terms so far this year, the other nine reported falls, the ministry said.

The 12 economies are Taiwan, China, Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Thailand, India, Malaysia, the Philippines, Indonesia and Vietnam, according the MOF.

The ministry said the weakness of exports in the 12 economies largely reflected the impact of trade disputes between Washington and China. Notably, China only suffered a 0.1 percent year-on-year decline in the nine months, data showed.