Taiwan’s exports in the first quarter of 2017 experienced the largest growth since the second quarter of 2011, according to preliminary statistics from the Ministry of Finance. Total exports during the three months reached US$72.12 billion (NT$2.207 trillion), up 15.1% from the same period last year.

The Ministry of Finance said that exports in March totaled US$25.71 billion, up 13.5% from February and 13.2% from March 2016. It was the sixth consecutive month of export growth for Taiwan. Exports to China and Hong Kong increased 16.8% from March 2016, while those to ASEAN countries grew 16.4%. Exports to the US increased 10.6% to US$3 billion, while those to Europe grew 6.2%.

Exports of electronic components totaled US$8.68 billion in March, up 20% from the previous year, while optical equipment exports totaled US$1.02 billion, up 20.4% from March 2016.

In the first quarter of 2017, exports to China and Hong Kong increased 22% from the same period last year to US$28.81 billion. Exports to Japan totaled US$4.82 billion in the quarter, up 2.8%.

March imports totaled US$21.78 billion, and increase of 12.8% from the previous month and 19.8% from the same month last year. Cumulative imports from January to March totaled US$61.32 billion, up 21.6% from the first quarter of 2016 and also the highest growth rate in nearly six years.

Agricultural raw materials imports increased 24.8% from last March to US$15.14 billion. Equipment imports increased 21.5% year-on-year in the month, with precision equipment and semiconductor-related equipment imorts increasing 23% and 52.5%, respectively.

Consumer goods imports only increased 2.7% in March from a year earlier to US$2.61 billion. Within the category, cosmetics imports grew 18.4%.