Taiwan’s economy grew 3.51% last year, slightly above the government’s initial forecast of 3.43%. That’s according to an advance estimate released by the government statistics office on Friday.
According to the office, Taiwan’s GDP growth during the fourth quarter of 2014 reached 4.17%. This exceeded the office’s prediction of 2.83% growth.
The office said that despite a series of food safety scandals in Taiwan in the fourth quarter, the domestic economy remained stable and continued to grow. But the office also said that the food safety scares did hurt consumer sentiment to some extent.
The office’s data shows that in the October-December period, Taiwan’s exports in electronics, machinery, and base metals increased. The office also said that after inflationary adjustment, real exports in goods and services during the fourth quarter showed year-on-year growth of 5.57%.
The office is scheduled to issue a preliminary report on Taiwan’s GDP growth for the whole of 2014 and an updated forecast for 2015 in February.