TAIPEI (Reuters) – Taiwan’s economy will grow at its fastest pace in more than a decade in 2021, the statistics office said on Friday, upgrading its outlook on a strong rebound in exports for the tech heavyweight island.
Gross domestic product (GDP) is expected to rise 5.88% this year, the fastest pace since it expanded 10.25% in 2010, the Directorate General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics said, and up from a growth forecast of 5.46% made in June.
Giving its first forecast for 2022, the office said it saw GDP growth reaching a more modest 3.69% next year.
The revision came as the statistics office bumped up its export growth forecast for this year, with global demand for the island’s technology products buoyed by a work-from-home boom during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Taiwan’s exports are a bellwether of demand for global tech giants such as Apple Inc, as the island is a major producer of semiconductors, a global shortage of which has rattled firms like auto makers and boosted Taiwanese corporate profits.
The statistics agency forecast exports in 2021 would rise 28.15% compared with last year, versus a previous prediction of 20.4%.
For next year, it said it saw exports expanding 5.22% year-on-year.
In the second quarter, GDP expanded by a revised 7.43% from a year earlier, slightly down from a preliminary reading of 7.47%, the agency added, and slowing from 8.92% growth in the first quarter as a sudden spike in domestic COVID-19 cases that began in May weighed on consumption.
The outbreak has since been contained and restrictions, including on personal gatherings and in-restaurant dining, were eased last month.
(Reporting by Emily Chan and Ben Blanchard; Editing by Ana Nicolaci da Costa)
