Taiwan’s Purchasing Managers Index or PMI dropped 1.8 percentage points to 51.5% in October. That’s the slowest expansion since March.
A PMI reading of above 50 indicates expansion in manufacturing activity, while a figure below 50 signals contraction.
A report out Monday by the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (CIER) shows that of the five sub-indicators, business outlook over the next six months fell 10.7 percentage points to 43.4%, the lowest since December 2012.
CIER President Wu Chung-shu said on Monday the drop is mostly due to the global economic slowdown and the latest tainted edible oil scandals.
Wu also said other factors such as the slight decrease of the iPhone 6s craze and the lack of momentum in economic recovery in China and Europe also led to the contraction.
The economist said the Ebola crisis and geopolitics will be worth monitoring.