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Taiwan's industrial production growth accelerated in December to the highest level in seven months, while retail sales increased for the third straight month, separate reports from the Ministry of Economic Affairs showed on Friday.
Industrial production advanced 21.57 percent yearly in December, faster than the 15.82 percent growth in November.
Further, this was the strongest growth since May, when production had risen 22.1 percent.
Among the main sectors, the annual growth of manufacturing output accelerated to 22.98 percent from 16.72 percent, and mining and quarrying production rebounded 3.0 percent. Meanwhile, the electricity and gas supply segment logged a contraction of 3.45 percent.
On a month-on-month basis, industrial production rebounded a seasonally adjusted 5.80 percent in December after a 4.41 percent decrease in November.
Another report from the statistical office showed that retail sales rose 0.9 percent yearly in December, though slower than the 1.6 percent growth in the prior month.
Sales at general merchandise stores grew 0.4 percent, and those of food, beverages, and tobacco in specialized stores dropped by 2.7 percent. Data showed that sales of textiles and clothing in specialized stores declined sharply by 7.8 percent.
