Taiwan Industrial Output Declines Further, Retail Sales Growth Improves

(RTTNews) - Taiwan's industrial production continued to decline in September amid weak performance in the mining, quarrying, and manufacturing sectors, preliminary data from the Ministry of Economic Affairs showed on Monday.

Separate official data showed that retail sales expanded at the fastest pace in three months.

Industrial production fell 6.72 percent year-on-year in September, slower than the revised 10.81 percent slump in the previous month. Production has been falling since September last year.

Among the main sectors, mining and quarrying output declined the most, by 15.88 percent annually in September, followed by that of manufacturing with a 7.01 percent fall.

Meanwhile, the output produced in the electricity and gas segments was 2.10 percent higher compared to last year.

On a month-on-month basis, industrial production rose a seasonally adjusted 0.73 percent from August, when it advanced by 2.92 percent.

Another report from the statistical office showed that retail sales climbed 6.01 percent annually in September, following a 4.30 percent gain in the prior month.

Sales of food, beverages, and tobacco in specialised stores grew by 12.67 percent annually in September, followed by textiles and clothing, which rose by 7.68 percent.