Taiwan to post highest GDP growth in 39 years

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Driven by surging global demand for AI hardware and advanced semiconductors, Taiwan will this year post its highest GDP growth since 1987 – 11.05 per cent. The government has…

Driven by surging global demand for AI hardware and advanced semiconductors, Taiwan will this year post its highest GDP growth since 1987 – 11.05 per cent.

The government has announced a gift of NT$10,000 to every citizen as an “AI bonus”.

At a news conference last weekend in Taipei, Chen Shu-tzu, Minister of the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) said that exports were the biggest contributor to economic growth. “They have been driven by demand for electronics and information and communications technology products.”

“Other factors are stronger private investment and better than expected domestic consumption,” he said.

His department forecast exports this year of a record US$903.6 billion, 41.19 per cent up from 2025. This includes a recovery in traditional manufacturing, with tight supplies of key electronic components, including memory chips, driving up prices.

It forecast that, in 2026, private investment would grow 11.58 per cent year on year, the fastest growth in five years. “Demand for AI has prompted global customers to secure capacity through advance payments and long-term contracts,” it said.

“This encouraged local semiconductors, packaging and testing, memory, substrate and equipment suppliers to speed up expansion of their capacity,” it said.

It forecast inflation for 2026 at 2.07 per cent, while real wages in the first half rose 3.5 per cent.Such dramatic growth has left the government flush with cash. As a result, President Lai Ching-te announced this week that the 2027 budget included a cash handout of NT$10,000 to everyone as an “AI bonus for all to enjoy”.

It will be the third such payment in five years, following NT$6,000 in 2023 and NT$10,000 in 2025.

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