Taiwan's exports up for 13th straight month in November

Taipei, Dec. 9 (CNA) Taiwan's exports rose for a 13th consecutive month in November, putting the country on pace for its second highest level of exports in history and a potentially record-setting trade surplus in 2024, the Ministry of Finance (MOF) reported Monday.

Taiwan's exports in November totaled US$41.09 billion, up 9.7 percent from the same month in 2023, the MOF data showed.

Imports for the month also rose by 19.8 percent from a year earlier to US$33.16 billion, resulting in a trade surplus of US$7.92 billion, which was down 19 percent from November 2023.

For the first 11 months of 2024, Taiwan's exports totaled US$431.5 billion, up 9.9 percent year-over-year, leaving Taiwan well-positioned to post its second highest full-year export total in history, behind only US$479.4 billion in 2022.

Imports totaled US$357.1 billion in the January-November period, up 10.6 percent from a year earlier, yielding a trade surplus of US$74.4 billion, up 6.8 percent year-over-year.

Beatrice Tsai (蔡美娜), director-general of the MOF's Department of Statistics, attributed the strong exports in November to sustained robust demand for information, communication and audio-video products, which were up 64.9 percent in the first 11 months of 2024.

She said easing inflation had led to greater demand for IT gadgets, and the artificial intelligence (AI) wave had spurred sustained strong demand for AI applications.

November was the fourth consecutive month in which Taiwan's exports exceeded US$40 billion, and Tsai expected that trend to continue in December, forecasting exports for the month to fall in the US$41.7 billion to US$42.9 billion range.

That would result in total exports for 2024 ending up between US$473.2 billion and US$474.4 billion, which means Taiwan could also see a record trade surplus for a second year in a row after hitting US$80.8 billion in 2023.

In terms of export markets, China and Hong Kong accounted for 31.7 percent of Taiwan's exports in the first 11 months of 2024, followed by the United States at 23.5 percent, and ASEAN countries at 18.3 percent, MOF data showed.

Exports rose 49.9 percent to the U.S. during that period, and exports to ASEAN countries and South Korea also posted double-digit growth, while exports to Japan (down 17.9 percent) and Europe (down 7.9 percent) fell, the data showed.