Taiwan records second highest year of exports in 2024

Taipei, Jan. 9 (CNA) Taiwan posted its second highest full-year of exports in 2024 totaling US$475.07 billion, after recording a 14th consecutive month of year-on-year export growth in December, data released by the Ministry of Finance on Thursday showed.

Exports in December were a better-than-expected US$43.59 billion, thanks to the steady growth of the global economy, which helped to maintain demand for products involving high performance computing and artificial intelligence (AI), said Beatrice Tsai (蔡美娜), director-general of the ministry's Department of Statistics.

Tsai attributed December's strong performance to several key factors: the traditional peak season during the fourth quarter, the upcoming Lunar New Year holiday in late January, and a surge in orders placed with Taiwanese businesses ahead of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's inauguration, amid concerns over his stated intention to impose high import duties.

Information, communication and video/audio products, and electronic components hit US$11.72 billion and US$17.21 billion in December, maintaining the dominance of the two product categories, according to Tsai.

The strong exports recorded in December pushed the full-year figure to the second highest ever recorded, and exports in the fourth quarter to the highest quarterly total ever of US$125.97 billion.

Taiwan posted record exports in 2022 at US$479.41 billion, after the full-year figure passed US$400 billion for the first time in 2021 with US$446.37 billion, according to ministry data.

Meanwhile, Tsai said full-year exports in 2024 grew 9.9 percent from a year earlier, outperforming South Korea's 8.2 percent, Singapore's 5.6 percent during the first 11 months, China's 5.4 percent during the January-November period, and the 1.4 percent decline Japan posted during the 11-month period ending November.

Among Taiwan's neighbors, only Hong Kong posted stronger growth -- 11.8 percent for the January-November period, Tsai said.

In 2024, eight of the 11 product categories posted growth, led by a 59 percent year-on-year increase in exports of information, communication and video/audio products, which reached a record high of US$132.5 billion, according to Tsai.

However, old economy industries continued to see only limited recovery as those businesses still face over-capacity in the global market, Tsai said, citing the third year of annual decline in exports of plastic and rubber.

In terms of export markets, China and Hong Kong accounted for 31.7 percent of Taiwan's exports in 2024, followed by the United States at 23.4 percent, and ASEAN countries at 18.5 percent, data released Thursday showed.

Meanwhile, Taiwan reported imports of US$37.51 billion in December, and total imports of 394.47 billion in 2024, with a trade surplus of US$80.61 billion, according to the ministry.