Taiwan's GDP Grew 2.19% in 2013: DGBAS

Taiwan's Directorate General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) recently adjusted the island's 2013 GDP growth figure upward to 2.19%, largely because of strong exports, consumer spending, and private investment in the fourth quarter of the year.

DGBAS says that Taiwan's economic growth in the fourth quarter was 2.92%, much higher than the 1.22% forecast in November and the highest quarterly gain of the year.

According to a DGBAS official, the unexpectedly good economic performance in the fourth quarter can be attrrbuted to the absence of worries about the withdrawal of the U.S. quantitative easing policy, possible inflation in euro zone, and slow market growth in China.

In the fourth quarter Taiwan's year-on-year export growth reached 3.95%, 2.86 percentage points higher than the earlier prediction, and private spending jumped by 1.24 percentage points to 3.25%.

In light of the improved economic figures, C. M. Kuan, minister of the newly formed National Development Council, is optimistic about the economic climate in 2014 and confident that Taiwan's economic growth will reach the goal of 3.2% that has been set for the year. (JL)

DGBAS Estimates of Growth in Taiwan's Economic Indicators for 2013                                                                 Unit: %
Indicator	Q4	Whole Year
GDP	2.92	2.19
Private spending	3.25	1.77
Government spending	0.08	-0.41
Gross fixed capital formation	9.74	4.25
Exports	3.95	3.78
Imports	6.12	4.04