TAIPEI (Reuters) – Taiwan’s trade-dependent economy grew less than expected in the fourth quarter of 2024 but managed strong 4.3% growth for the full year, reaping the benefits of the AI boom and a recovery in demand from China.
Taiwan is a key part of the global technology supply chain for companies such as Apple and Nvidia, and is home to the world’s largest contract chipmaker, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co,.
Gross domestic product grew a preliminary 1.84% in the October-December period from a year earlier, the statistics agency said on Friday, missing the 2.0% growth forecast by analysts in a Reuters poll. It was also slower than the 4.17% expansion in the third quarter.
Quarter-on-quarter, the economy grew at a seasonally adjusted annualised rate of 2.04%.
Fourth-quarter exports rose 9.1% year-on-year, slightly faster than the third-quarter’s 8.1%, powered by tech-heavy exporters including chipmakers that were boosted by AI-related demand.
Full-year growth of 4.3% was in line with the statistics bureau’s November forecast of 4.27% and the fastest pace in three years. In 2023, the economy expanded 1.31%, a 14-year low.
(Reporting by Faith Hung and Jeanny Kao; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman and Edmund Klamann)
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