{"id":266756,"date":"2026-01-31T07:42:12","date_gmt":"2026-01-31T07:42:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/266756\/"},"modified":"2026-01-31T07:42:12","modified_gmt":"2026-01-31T07:42:12","slug":"gdp-grew-at-fastest-pace-of-8-63-last-year-dgbas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/266756\/","title":{"rendered":"GDP grew at fastest pace of 8.63% last year: DGBAS"},"content":{"rendered":"

ROBUST GROWTH:
\n Data last year reflected the nation\u2019s export-driven growth, resilient domestic consumption, and integral role in the global AI and semiconductor ecosystem <\/p>\n

By Crystal Hsu \/ Staff reporter<\/p>\n

The economy last year grew at its fastest pace in nearly 15 years, fueled by a surge in exports tied to artificial intelligence (AI) and advanced computing, the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) said yesterday.<\/p>\n

GDP expanded 12.68 percent in the fourth quarter \u2014 the strongest quarterly pace in nearly 38 years \u2014 lifting full-year GDP growth to 8.63 percent. <\/p>\n

That significantly exceeded the government\u2019s 7.37 percent forecast, highlighting the nation\u2019s importance in the global technology supply chain.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Photo courtesy of Hon Hai Precision Industry Co<\/p>\n

\u201cTaiwan\u2019s economy has outpaced expectations, thanks to a remarkable surge in exports, particularly in technology and AI-linked products,\u201d DGBAS senior official Chiang Hsin-yi (\u6c5f\u5fc3\u6021) said.<\/p>\n

Goods exports in the fourth quarter, measured in US dollars, jumped 49.4 percent from a year earlier, surpassing prior forecasts by nearly 4 percentage points.<\/p>\n

The agency cited strong demand from global cloud service providers as they accelerated capital spending to meet surging demand for AI and advanced computing applications.<\/p>\n

Imports also rose sharply, increasing 24.27 percent year-on-year, as local companies boosted purchases of agricultural and industrial raw materials by 22.72 percent, and capital equipment by 40.44 percent.<\/p>\n

Machinery and equipment imports climbed 22.86 percent, which included a 23.89 percent gain in semiconductor production tools, reflecting firms\u2019 efforts to expand capacity in response to global demand.<\/p>\n

Domestic demand contributed to the growth momentum, albeit at a more modest pace. <\/p>\n

Private consumption increased 3.43 percent in the fourth quarter, slightly above earlier forecasts, supported by year-end holiday promotions, government cash handouts and expanded vehicle tax incentives that bolstered auto sales.<\/p>\n

Government spending grew 1.83 percent, contributing 0.25 percentage points to overall GDP growth, although it was slower than projected.<\/p>\n

Overall domestic demand rose 0.89 percent, accounting for 0.77 percentage points of the economy\u2019s expansion.<\/p>\n

Chiang dismissed concerns that Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co\u2019s (TSMC, \u53f0\u7a4d\u96fb) investments in the US might displace private investment.<\/p>\n

Since TSMC announced its expansion in the US in 2020, private-sector investments have maintained an average annual growth rate of more than 6 percent, while the economy grew at an average of 4.8 percent, the official said, adding that overseas expansion has not crowded out domestic investment.<\/p>\n

Per capita GDP reached US$39,477 last year, approaching the US$40,000 milestone and highlighting Taiwan\u2019s rising economic standing amid strong global demand for technology goods, Chiang said.<\/p>\n

The data reflected export-driven growth and resilient domestic consumption, underscoring Taiwan\u2019s integral role in the global AI and semiconductor ecosystem.<\/p>\n

The economy is poised to sustain its robust expansion into this year, and the DGBAS is scheduled to give an official growth update next month.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ROBUST GROWTH: Data last year reflected the nation\u2019s export-driven growth, resilient domestic consumption, and integral role in the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":266757,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[114,184,85,46,5701,5700],"class_list":["post-266756","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-economy","tag-business","tag-economy","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-the-taipei-times","tag-5700"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/266756","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=266756"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/266756\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/266757"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=266756"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=266756"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=266756"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}