Taiwan's exports reached a record $87.2 billion in September, up 60.9% from a year earlier, according to the finance ministry, extending the island's export expansion to a 35th consecutive month. Imports climbed 51.7% to $63.6 billion, also a record, leaving a trade surplus of $23.6 billion that was likewise the highest on record.
Growth was concentrated in the hardware that underpins the AI buildout: information, communication and audio-video products rose 103.0% from a year earlier, the finance ministry said, reflecting continued demand for the servers, chips and networking equipment assembled or fabricated on the island. The United States remained Taiwan's largest single export market, taking 31.5% of total shipments, which to the U.S. alone jumped 106.2% year over year. The September total followed a then-record $82.4 billion in August, meaning the island has now set a new export high in back-to-back months.
A surprisingly hot streak
The September figures beat most forecasts. One economist tracking Taiwan's trade data said projections going into the release had been "far too low," according to a note cited by Business Today Malaysia. The export boom has been a major driver of Taiwan's broader economy this year; gross domestic product expanded 12.9% in the second quarter, a pace well above most developed economies, as detailed in wire coverage of the ministry's release.
The numbers land in the same week Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., the island's largest company and the chipmaker behind most leading-edge AI processors, is due to report its own quarterly results, after a preliminary count already showed third-quarter revenue of roughly $46.7 billion, up about 50% from a year earlier and ahead of the top end of the company's own guidance. Analysts expect the formal results, due later this week, to show a sharp year-over-year profit jump on the strength of AI-related orders.
Economists caution the streak still depends on a narrow set of customers continuing to spend heavily on AI infrastructure. Taiwan's export growth has outpaced most forecasts for much of this year, but any slowdown in AI capital spending by major U.S. cloud and chip companies would show up quickly in the island's trade data given how concentrated the gains have been in AI-linked hardware.
