Taiwan’s economy expanded by 13.69% year-on-year in Q1 2026, up from 12.65% in Q4 2025 and surpassing market expectations of an 11.3% increase, according to preliminary estimates. This was the fastest pace of growth since Q4 1986, underpinned by strong global demand for AI technologies and related infrastructure.
Domestic demand strengthened markedly, rising 4.83% compared with 0.86% in Q4 2025. The pickup was fueled by firmer household consumption (4.89% vs 3.45%) and higher government spending (3.91% vs 0.75%), as well as a sharp turnaround in gross capital formation (5.2% vs -3.39%).
Externally, exports of goods and services grew 35.35%, easing from 38.81% in the previous quarter, while imports accelerated to 27.07% from 24.59%. On a seasonally adjusted quarter-on-quarter basis, growth cooled to 2.84% in Q1 2026 from 5.43% in Q4 2025.
