2023.02.0711:07:00UTC+00Taiwan Exports Fall Most Since August 2009

Taiwan's exports declined for the fourth straight month in January, and at the fastest pace in nearly thirteen-and-a-half years, as the Chinese Lunar New Year holidays and the weak global technology demand dampened overall exports, preliminary figures from the Ministry of Finance revealed on Tuesday.

Exports plunged 21.2 percent year-over-year in January, which was worse than the 12.1 fall in December. Economists had forecast an 18.2 percent drop.

Further, this was the fastest rate of decline since August 2009, when exports had declined 24.7 percent.

Shipments of base metals and related articles fell the most, by 28.8 percent annually in January, and those of chemicals slumped 26.5 percent.

Machinery exports also fell sharply by 25.0 percent over the year, and outflows of parts of electronic products declined 20.1 percent.

Imports also decreased at a faster pace of 16.6 percent yearly in January, after an 11.4 percent fall a month ago. Meanwhile, imports were expected to slide by 18.2 percent.

As a result, the trade surplus shrank markedly to $2.34 billion in January from $5.01 billion in the corresponding month last year. The expected surplus was $3.94 billion.