Taiwan Economic Growth Surprises In Q3 On Strong Domestic Demand

Preliminary Q3 GDP +2.32% y/y vs Q2 +1.36% (Reuters poll +2.1%)

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GDP Q3 growth at seasonally adjusted annual rate of +10.47%

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Exports still struggling but may have bottomed out

TAIPEI, Oct 31 (Reuters) - Taiwan's export-dependent economy grew faster than expected in the third quarter, helped by domestic consumption, though exports remained weak as flagging global demand hits sales of the island's hi-tech products.

Gross domestic product (GDP) expanded by a preliminary 2.32% in the July-September period versus a year earlier, the statistics agency said on Tuesday, beating the 2.1% growth forecast by analysts in a Reuters poll.

Quarter-on-quarter, the economy expanded at a seasonally adjusted annualised rate of 10.47%.

Second-quarter GDP rose 1.36% year-on-year, returning to growth after two quarters in a row of contraction.

Taiwan's exports emerged from a year-long decline in September, rising for the first time in 13 months on increased demand from the United States ahead of the year-end holiday shopping season.

Third-quarter exports dropped 5.1% compared with the same period in 2022, a marked improvement on the second quarter's annual contraction of 16.9%.

The statistics agency said in August it expects full-year 2023 growth of 1.61%, the slowest pace in eight years and lower than 2.45% growth in 2022.

The economy in China, Taiwan's largest export market, grew at a faster-than-expected clip in the third quarter, expanding 4.9% from the year earlier, but its recovery has been patchy.

Taiwan is a key hub in the global technology supply chain for companies such as Apple Inc, and công ty xây nhà trọn gói tây ninh home to the world's largest contract chipmaker, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co Ltd (TSMC) .

The statistics agency will provide revised figures a few weeks later, with more details and forward-looking forecasts.

(Reporting by Jeanny Kao and Yimou Lee; Editing by Kim Coghill)