Taiwan think tank raises 2022 GDP growth forecast to 3.96%

中經院上修2022年GDP增幅至3.96%

Economic growth to speed up quarter by quarter in 2022

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwan’s export performance and stable investment situation will allow its economy to grow by 3.96% this year instead of the 3.67% predicted last December, the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (CIER) said Wednesday (April 20).

Looking beyond this year, the leading think tank said positive domestic and foreign factors would allow the economy to grow by 3.46% in 2023.

According to the CIER, its estimate made last December was too conservative, as the country’s exports continued growing during the first quarter of 2022, with the pace of investments remaining stable, CNA reported. If its prediction for next year holds up, then Taiwan will have recorded three consecutive years of gross domestic product (GDP) growth of at least 3.4%, the economists said.

The CIER predicted GDP for the first quarter at 2.96%, followed by 3.16%, 4.7%, and finally 4.9% in the final quarter of 2022.

However, inflation was also on the rise, and the consumer price index (CPI) growth is likely to register 2.56% for 2022 compared to 1.97% last year, the think tank said. If the war in Ukraine had not escalated, inflation could have slowed down during the second half of the year.