Taiwan Industrial Production Surges, Retail Sales Rise Further

(RTTNews) - Taiwan's industrial production expanded at the fastest pace in four months on the back of strong manufacturing growth, preliminary data from the Ministry of Economic Affairs showed on Monday.

Separate official data showed that retail sales expanded at a slightly faster pace in May.

Industrial production advanced 16.06 percent year-on-year in May, extending from the 14.48 percent growth in April.

Among the main sectors, manufacturing output alone surged 16.70 percent annually in May, and utility production showed an increase of 3.95 percent. Meanwhile, mining and quarrying output dropped 1.52 percent.

On a month-on-month basis, industrial production rose a seasonally adjusted 6.17 percent from April, when it rebounded by 0.44 percent.

Another report from the statistical office showed that annual retail sales growth improved somewhat to 2.43 percent in May from 1.59 percent in the prior month.

Sales of textiles and clothing in specialized stores increased by 4.73 percent, and sales at general merchandise stores rose by 2.84 percent.