2020.01.2113:39:00UTC+00Taiwan GDP Growth Improves In Q4; Beats Forecast

Taiwan's economy grew at a faster pace in the fourth quarter and beat the government's forecast, advance estimates from the Directorate General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics, or DGBAS, showed Tuesday.

Gross domestic product grew 3.38 percent year-on-year following a 2.99 percent expansion in the third quarter. Economists had forecast a 2.78 percent increase.

The estimate is also greater than the DGBAS's November forecast of 3.04 percent.

Growth was driven by domestic demand with stronger private consumption growth and a solid rebound in gross capital formation. Export growth improved to 2.33 percent from 0.33 percent. Imports grew 4.26 percent after a 2.31 percent slump.

On a seasonally adjusted annualized basis (saar), GDP grew 6.96 percent quarter-on-quarter after a 2.42 percent in the previous three months. For the whole year 2019, growth was 2.73 percent versus 2.75 percent in 2018.

The 2019 growth figure beat the official forecast of 2.64 percent. In November, the DGBAS forecast 2020 growth at 2.72 percent.