Taiwan Q4 GDP Growth Eases Less Than Estimated

(RTTNews) - Taiwan's economic growth moderated less than initially estimated in the final quarter of 2024, according to advance estimates by the Directorate General of Budget, Accounting, and Statistics, or DGBAS, revealed on Wednesday.

Gross domestic product, or GDP, advanced 2.90 percent year-on-year in the fourth quarter, slower than the 4.21 percent increase in the September quarter. In the flash report, the rate of growth was 1.84 percent.

Further, this was the weakest growth since the third quarter of 2023, when GDP had risen 1.55 percent.

On the expenditure side, private final consumption grew by 2.49 percent over the year, mainly driven by expenditures such as domestic shopping and services, outbound tourism, and higher securities and funds transaction fees due to robust financial market.

Gross capital formation grew 19.20 percent annually as investments in machinery equipment, construction, and intellectual property products increased. Exports of goods and services grew 8.90 percent amid strong demand for information and communication products. Imports also grew 18.31 percent.

On a quarter-on-quarter, seasonally adjusted, annual basis, GDP rose 1.62 percent, faster than the 0.59 percent expansion a quarter ago.

Looking ahead, Taiwan's GDP is projected to grow by 3.14 percent in 2025, revised downward by 0.15 percentage points due to the stronger-than-expected economic performance in 2024, the agency said.

The consumer price index is to be increased by 1.94 percent in 2025, slightly upward by 0.01 percentage point, mainly driven by rising wages and sustained price increases in food away from home, residential rents, and medical care services.

Separate official data showed that the seasonally adjusted jobless rate edged down to 3.37 percent in January from 3.38 percent in December.

The number of unemployed persons was 396,000 in January, a decrease of 3,000 from the previous month.