Taiwan Q3 GDP grows faster than expected on lifting of COVID curbs

TAIPEI  -Taiwan’s economy grew much faster than expected in the third quarter and at its fastest pace since the last three months of 2021, boosted by a resumption in domestic demand following the easing of COVID-19 curbs even as exports slowed.

For the July-September period, annual gross domestic product(GDP) grew by 4.1 percent from the same period a year earlier, compared with 3.05 percent for the previous quarter, preliminary data from the statistics agency showed on Friday.

That was well above an increase of 3.2 percent forecast in a Reuters poll, and the fastest pace since logging a 5.32-percent expansion in the fourth quarter of last year.

Compared with the previous quarter, the economy expanded 6.63 percent on a seasonally adjusted annual rate.

The statistics office said there was a “significant return” of consumer spending in the third quarter, as the government relaxed controls to stop the spread of COVID-19, though off a low base given tight curbs at the same time last year.

Total third-quarter exports rose only 3.38 percent from a year earlier in U.S. dollar terms, the agency said, impacted by high global inflation, COVID-19 lockdowns in Taiwan’s largest export market China and generally weaker global demand.

Taiwan will release revised GDP figures on Nov. 29, including full-year growth forecasts for 2022. In August, the statistics agency revised down its full year outlook to 3.76 percent from a previous forecast of 3.91 percent.