Taiwan Exports Surge to Record High in October

Exports from Taiwan rose 20.6% year-on-year to a ten-month low of USD 49.8 billion in February 2026, sharply slowing from a sixteen-year high of 69.9% in the previous month and missing market expectations of a 28.8% gain. This marked the weakest annual growth since March 2025, weighed down by fewer working days due to the week-long Lunar New Year holiday, despite robust demand in the AI and cloud sectors. Meanwhile, investors will also be closely monitoring US trade policy and the escalating Middle East conflict. Shipments increased for information, communication, and audio-video products (38.7%), electronic product parts (24.6%), and machinery (10%). Export growth was strongest to the US, where shipments soared 33.7% following a recent agreement that reduced US tariffs on many Taiwanese goods from 20% to 15%. Considering the first two months of the year, Taiwan’s total exports reached USD 115.6 billion, up 44.5% compared with the corresponding period of the previous year.

Exports from Taiwan soared 69.9% year-on-year to an all-time high of USD 65.77 billion in January 2026, following a 43.4% growth in the previous month and surpassing market expectations of a 51.9% rise. This marked the strongest annual export growth since January 2010, driven by robust sales across all major categories. Information, communication, and audio-video products surged 129.8%, parts of electronic products climbed 59.8%, base metals and articles of base metals grew 22.3%, machinery increased 29.4%, and plastics, rubber, and articles thereof rose 8.6%. Exports to the US jumped 151.8%, accounting for 32.4% of total exports, following a recent trade agreement between the US and Taiwan aimed at boosting American semiconductor production in exchange for lower tariffs. Other key destinations included Mainland China and Hong Kong (49.6%), ASEAN countries (61.8%), Europe (106%), Japan (37.2%), and Korea (96%).

Exports from Taiwan jumped 43.4% year-on-year to USD 62.48 billion in December, marking the second-highest monthly level on record. The pace slowed from a 56.0% increase in November and fell short of market expectations of 46%. The surge was fueled by strong demand for AI, high-performance computing, and cloud services, which supported robust shipments of related products. By category, exports rose sharply for information, communication, and audio-video products (+126.3%), electronic parts (+24.1%), and machinery (+11.0%), while shipments of base metals and articles of base metal (-7.8%) and chemicals (-6.7%) declined. By destination, exports to major markets posted broad-based gains, with shipments to the US (+125.9%) leading, followed by Europe (+54.5%), Korea (+33.6%), Japan (+26.2%), ASEAN (+20.3%), and China and Hong Kong (+11.3%). For the full year 2025, Taiwan’s total exports reached USD 640.75 billion, up 34.9% year-on-year, including a 78.0% surge in shipments to the US.