Taiwan’s export orders in August dropped by a whopping 8.3% when compared with the same month last year. That’s according to a new report from the economics ministry on Monday.
One outlier was orders for telecommunications products, which saw 4.7% growth over last August. Export orders for other types of products have shown negative growth for five months in a row.
The economics ministry said the drop is mostly due to a global economic slowdown, falling oil prices, and decreasing demand for hand-held devices.
Last month, positive growth was only seen in export orders from the United States. Orders increased 0.6% year-on-year, mostly on purchases of electronics and telecom products.
Export orders from Japan, on the other hand, dropped by 17.1% year-on-year. That was followed by decreases in orders from China and Hong Kong, which were down 14.8%; from Europe, down 12.1%; and orders from ASEAN member countries, down 6.2% over last year.