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-cty xây dựng Long an 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 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)