Taiwan Industrial Output Growth Remains Strong; Retail Sales Fall Further

(RTTNews) - Taiwan's industrial production continued to expand sharply in May, while retail sales decreased for the second successive month, separate reports from the Ministry of Economic Affairs showed on Tuesday.

Industrial production advanced 22.60 percent yearly in May, though slightly slower than the 23.71 percent growth in April.

Among the main sectors, the annual growth of manufacturing output eased to 24.0 percent from 25.18 percent, while mining and quarrying production showed a decline of 2.36 percent. Data showed that the electricity and gas supply segment logged a slower drop of 2.32 percent.

On a month-on-month basis, industrial production rose a seasonally adjusted 3.42 percent from April, when it grew by 9.94 percent.

Another report from the statistical office showed that retail sales fell 1.63 percent yearly in May, following a 0.58 percent decrease in the prior month.

Sales of household appliances and goods in specialized stores fell 2.79 percent from last year, and the sales growth in demand for food, beverages, and tobacco in specialized stores eased to 9.42 percent from 10.65 percent.