Taiwan's annual exports are expected to surpass Japan's for the first time. October exports rose sharply year on year, reaching a record high for a single month.
Taiwan's Ministry of Finance reported October exports of $96.76 billion, up 58.9% year on year and exceeding the $90 billion mark for the first time. Total exports from January to October reached $758.29 billion, surpassing the previous full-year record. Director Cai Meina (蔡美娜) believes it is certain that annual exports will exceed $900 billion this year.
It has also been reported that annual exports are certain to surpass Japan's for the first time, with the cumulative gap from January to September this year described as $74.3 billion. Taiwanese media outlet ETtoday reported that Taiwan is gaining momentum in overtaking Japan.
The factors cited include the spread of artificial intelligence demand to the semiconductor industry, increasing component usage and rising performance levels, strained production capacity in the electronics industry, new product launches and the busy fourth quarter. By product category, information, communications and audiovisual equipment rose 72.9% to $47.6 billion, while electronic components rose 61.4% to $32.68 billion, both setting new records.
Japan is expected to be overtaken by Taiwan and South Korea in exports this year. Factors cited include Japan's industrial structure, which is concentrated in machinery and transport equipment and has a relatively low weighting in semiconductors, the rise of Chinese electric vehicles, population aging and the effects of shifting production capacity overseas.