Taiwan’s exports fell in April at a slower pace than the month before, in a sign that the deep global slump in demand for electronics may be bottoming out.

Overseas shipments fell 13.3% in April from a year earlier to US$36 billion , the Ministry of Finance said on Monday (May 8). That was much better than the median estimate of a 19.4% decline in a Bloomberg survey of economists, and an improvement from March’s 19.1% fall.

However, it still marked the eighth consecutive month of declines in exports, showing how much the global downturn has impacted the trade-dependent economy.

Imports dropped 20.2% last month from a year prior. That was slightly better than the median estimate of a 22.6% decline, but still the fastest pace since 2019. The trade surplus was US$6.7 billion, the highest since October 2020.

While shipments to some of Taiwan’s most important trading partners continued to slump in April, the year-on-year declines in several cases were not as severe as in prior months. Exports to China and Hong Kong fell 22%, better than March’s 28.5% drop. Shipments to the US declined 10.3%, about half as severe as March’s decrease.

Weak overseas demand for semiconductors - the main driver of Taiwan’s exports - has contributed to a disappointing outlook for the chipmaking hub, alongside sluggish manufacturing activity and concerns about inflation.

Taiwan’s economy fell into a recession last quarter, after gross domestic product fell 3.02%, versus the same period a year ago.

  - Bloomberg