Taiwan Industrial Output Growth Quickens, Retail Sales Rise For Second Month

(RTTNews) - Taiwan's industrial production expanded at an accelerated pace at the end of the year, and retail sales grew for the second successive month, separate reports from the Ministry of Economic Affairs showed on Thursday.

Industrial production advanced 19.97 percent yearly in December, much faster than the 10.20 percent growth in November. Production has been rising since March.

Among the main sectors, manufacturing output alone surged 20.79 percent annually in December, while mining and quarrying production showed a decrease of 1.12 percent. Data showed that the electricity and gas supply segment logged a slight recovery of 0.25 percent.

On a month-on-month basis, industrial production climbed seasonally adjusted 4.84 percent from November, when it rose by 2.86 percent.

During the year 2024, overall industrial production was 11.45 percent higher compared to 2023.

Another report from the statistical office showed that annual retail sales growth improved somewhat to 2.9 percent in December from a 2.1 percent rebound in the prior month.

Sales of pharmaceutical and medical goods in specialized stores grew sharply by 8.57 percent from last year, and sales demand for textiles and clothing rose by 8.38 percent.