The Ministry of Finance announced that exports in December last year were 35.75 billion US dollars, a 20-month low, and negative growth for 4 consecutive months.

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[Reporter Zheng Qifang/Taipei Report] The Ministry of Finance announced today that exports in December last year were 35.75 billion US dollars, a 20-month low, with a monthly decrease of 1.1% and an annual decrease of 12.1%. A record high, with an annual increase of 7.4%.

The Statistics Office of the Ministry of Finance stated that due to the significant slowdown in the growth momentum of the global economy, exports may continue to experience negative growth in the first quarter.

Imports in December were US$30.96 billion, a monthly decrease of 5.3% and an annual decrease of 11.4%. The cumulative imports last year were US$427.6 billion, a record high, an annual increase of 11.9%.

The balance between exports and imports exceeded US$4.79 billion in December, with an annual decrease of US$960 million; the accumulative total last year exceeded US$51.92 billion, with an annual decrease of US$12.49 billion.

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The Ministry of Finance stated that the global economy is gradually cooling down due to inflation and interest rate hikes. In addition, the worsening epidemic situation in China interferes with production activities, and terminal demand is weak. In December, my country’s exports were 35.75 billion US dollars, an annual decrease of 12.1%, and negative growth for 4 consecutive months. ; As manufacturers tend to be cautious in preparing materials and raw material prices generally fall back, imports are 30.96 billion US dollars, an annual decrease of 11.4%.

However, benefiting from the substantial growth in foreign trade in the first half of the year, last year's annual exports were US$479.52 billion and imports were US$427.6 billion, both hitting record highs.

Among the main export goods, the pattern of overall decline continued in December. Among them, plastic and chemical products, basic metals and their products were subject to low buying sentiment or manufacturers reduced production to eliminate inventory. Exports decreased by 33.8%, 28.4%, and 22.0% respectively; Exports of audio-visual products decreased by 10.7% year-on-year due to the sluggish market conditions of consumer electronics products.

Last year, the export value of six categories, including electronic components, information and audio-visual products, basic metals and their products, machinery, chemicals, and means of transportation, were all the best in previous years. Among them, electronic components exceeded US$200 billion, accounting for 1.5% of total exports. 41.7%.

In addition, in December, the exports of the five major markets shrank simultaneously, among which exports to China and Hong Kong fell by 16.4% year-on-year, the deepest decline; exports to ASEAN and Europe each fell by 10%, and exports to Japan and the United States fell by 6.1% and 2.6% respectively.

Last year, the scale of exports to Japan, ASEAN, the United States, and Europe all hit record highs, with annual growth rates of 15.1%, 14.8%, 14.3%, and 6.8%, respectively, while exports to China and Hong Kong decreased by 1.6%.

Reflected in the market structure, the proportion of exports to the United States increased by 1 percentage point from the previous year to 15.7%, an 18-year high, while the proportion of exports to China and Hong Kong decreased by 3.5 percentage points to 38.8%, an 18-year low.

Looking forward to this year, the Ministry of Finance has gradually launched monetary tightening policies with major economies to stabilize prices. The Russian-Ukrainian war is at a stalemate. The growth momentum of the global economy is expected to slow down significantly. The risk of China’s technology war still exists, which will highly restrict my country’s export performance. Although there are positive effects of emerging technology applications and the increase in chip content of end products, it is still difficult to offset the negative impact. Exports may continue to decline in the first quarter .

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