Taiwan Export Orders Jump 62.4 Percent to 114.2 Billion Dollars as US Orders Rise 79.4 Percent

By The Edge Research Team

Taiwan’s export orders rose 62.4 percent from a year earlier to 114.21 billion dollars in September, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said on 20 October. Orders from the United States climbed 79.4 percent. On the month, orders grew 10.9 percent, or 1.1 percent after seasonal adjustment.

Third quarter orders reached 315.10 billion dollars. That is 65.0 percent more than a year earlier and 15.8 percent more than in the second quarter. The 9-month total stands at 819.20 billion dollars, up 56.0 percent. On our calculation, that already beats the whole of 2025 by 75.47 billion dollars, or 10.1 percent. A quarter is still to run.

2 product groups carry almost the entire gain

Information and communication products rose 87.3 percent from a year earlier to 43.88 billion dollars. Against August they jumped 28.3 percent, on our calculation. Electronic products added only 3.6 percent on the month, on our calculation.

Information and communication products supplied 86 percent of the 11.25 billion dollar rise from August, on our calculation.

Electronic products remain the larger of the 2 groups, on our reading, at 47.42 billion dollars. They rose 71.0 percent on the year. On our calculation, the 2 groups together took 79.9 percent of September’s orders. A year earlier their share was 72.7 percent, on our calculation. They also delivered 91.5 percent of the 43.87 billion dollar increase on the year, on our calculation.

Outside the 2 technology groups, 7 of the other 8 rose on the year, on our count. Only optical equipment fell, by 5.6 percent, on our reading. The 8 groups shared the remaining 8.5 percent of the annual increase, on our calculation. Mineral products jumped 73.0 percent, but from a base of only 1.32 billion dollars.

Taiwan export orders by product, September 2026

Values and annual changes are from the ministry’s export orders statistics. Shares are our calculation and may not sum to 100 because of rounding.

The United States takes 4 in every 10 dollars

US orders rose 79.4 percent to 45.38 billion dollars. That is 39.7 percent of the September total, up from 36.0 percent a year earlier, on our calculation. The United States alone delivered 45.8 percent of September’s 43.87 billion dollar rise on the year, on our calculation.

US orders of 323.26 billion dollars since January are already 20.5 percent above the full 2025 US total, on our calculation.

Europe grew fastest on the month, on our calculation. Its orders rose 35.8 percent from August to 14.89 billion dollars, on our calculation. That was the biggest dollar gain of the 5 regions in the ministry’s table, on our reading. On the year, Europe was up 68.0 percent.

The 3 Asian destinations in the table grew more slowly on the year, on our reading. Orders from the 10 ASEAN members rose 41.1 percent. Mainland China and Hong Kong grew 48.5 percent. Together, those 2 took 34.2 percent of September’s orders, against 38.4 percent a year earlier, on our calculation. Japan was the only region below its August level, by 3.2 percent, on our calculation.

Taiwan export orders by destination, September 2026

Values and annual changes are from the ministry’s regional tables; monthly changes for the regions are our calculation from its August and September values. Other destinations made up 10,579 million dollars, or 9.3 percent of the total, on our calculation.

Factories abroad fill almost half the orders

Orders and shipments measure different things. The Ministry of Finance said on 8 October that September exports rose 60.9 percent to 87.22 billion dollars. On our calculation, Taiwan’s companies booked 1.31 dollars of orders for every dollar the island shipped that month. The two cannot be matched directly, since orders can be filled in later months or abroad.

Many orders are filled by factories abroad. The economy ministry put the overseas production ratio at 49.34 percent for September. That is up from 45.65 percent in August but below 52.19 percent a year earlier. On that ratio, 56.4 billion dollars of September orders were made outside Taiwan, on our calculation. That is more than twice the 26.99 billion dollar gap between orders and exports, on our calculation. For information and communication products the ratio was 71.89 percent.

Every month in the ministry’s table shows annual growth

Annual growth has eased from its August pace of 71.4 percent. Even so, every month from September 2025 to September 2026 in the ministry’s table shows a gain on the year, on our count. September’s 114.21 billion dollars is the largest of those 13 months, on our reading.

Measured in New Taiwan dollars, September orders reached 3,622.3 billion New Taiwan dollars, up 69.5 percent. On our calculation, the implied rate moved from 30.39 to 31.72 New Taiwan dollars per US dollar over the year. That weaker local currency accounts for the faster growth in New Taiwan dollar terms, on our reading.

Investment plans grew too. At an investment forum on the same day, the ministry counted 27 companies planning to invest 666 billion New Taiwan dollars, equivalent to 20.42 billion dollars. That is 315 percent more than last year. The ministry signed letters of intent with 13 of them, worth 62.1 billion New Taiwan dollars, or 1.90 billion dollars. 11 of the 13 signed for the first time. Foreign investment reached 19.23 billion dollars from January to September, the economy minister said, and should pass 20 billion dollars this year.

Taiwan export orders by period

Ministry figures. Dollar equivalents in the text are our calculation at the Central Bank of the Republic of China (Taiwan) closing rate of 32.617 New Taiwan dollars per US dollar on 20 October.

Why it matters: Export orders count the overseas orders Taiwan’s companies win, wherever the goods are then made. September’s total is the largest of the 13 months in the ministry’s table, on our reading. It is also concentrated. On our calculation, 2 technology product groups took 4 in every 5 dollars, and the United States took 4 in 10. Those 2 are the lines to watch in the October figures.

Outlook: The ministry publishes September industrial production on 23 October. The economy minister expects economic growth above 11 percent this year, with some forecasts at 12 percent. The October orders figure will show whether the monthly rise in information and communication orders carries through.

Sources: Ministry of Economic Affairs (Taiwan), Ministry of Finance (Taiwan), Central Bank of the Republic of China (Taiwan), The Edge.

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