Taiwan's exports, imports, trade surplus smash records in 2025

Taipei, Jan. 9 (CNA) Taiwan's exports, imports and trade surplus all hit record highs in 2025, helped by booming demand for advanced electronic components and information and communication technology (ICT) products, Ministry of Finance data released Friday showed.

Taiwan's exports in 2025 rose 34.9 percent from a year earlier to US$640.75 billion, easily eclipsing the previous record of US$479.4 billion set in 2022, according to data compiled by the MOF.

Imports rose 22.6 percent year-over-year to a record US$483.61 billion in 2025, smashing the previous record of US$428.1 billion in 2022, while the trade surplus was up 95.0 percent from a year earlier to a record US$157.14 billion, the data showed.

Exports boomed in two broad categories, the ICT and video/audio sector, which surged 89.5 percent from 2024 to a new high of US$251.15 billion, and the electronics component industry, which rose 25.8 percent to US$222.87 billion.

The two categories accounted for about 74 percent of Taiwan's total exports in 2025, with the ICT and video/audio sector in particular driving the country's booming export growth in recent years.

In 2023, ICT and video/audio product exports totaled US$83.36 billion, less than half the export amount of the electronic component sector, before increasing 59 percent in 2024 and 89.5 percent in 2025 on the boom in AI and data center-related exports.

Several major non-high-tech industries performed poorly, however, due to a global supply glut in 2025.

Exports of base metal, chemical items and plastics/rubber products fell 2.0 percent, 0.2 percent and 8.1 percent, respectively, to US$27.95 billion, US$18.25 billion and US$18.0 billion in 2025.

The machinery industry, however, posted exports of US$25.75 billion, up 7.0 percent from a year earlier as semiconductor firms were keen to buy equipment to expand capacity.

Beatrice Tsai (蔡美娜), director-general of the Ministry of Finance's Department of Statistics, said that with the restructuring of global supply chains amid tensions between Washington and Beijing, many Taiwanese exporters were trying to rely less on the China market.

Tsai said the United States accounted for 30.9 percent of Taiwan's total exports in 2025 at US$198.27 billion to become Taiwan's biggest export market for the first time in 26 years.

It took over the top spot from China and Hong Kong, which accounted for 26.6 percent of Taiwan's total exports.

Exports to China and Hong Kong rose 13.2 percent from a year earlier in 2025 to US$170.48 billion, stopping a three-year downward streak, Tsai said.

Exports to the ASEAN bloc rose 35.6 percent from a year earlier to US$118.98 billion in 2025, marking the best performance in 15 years to that market.

Amid continued strong demand for AI, the MOF forecast that Taiwan's exports in January will range between US$58.1 billion to US$60.4 billion, up 50-56 percent from a year earlier.

The ministry said the expected high growth will be helped by a relatively low base of comparison in January 2025, when the extended Lunar New Year holiday fell.