Taiwan’s Economy Falls Into Recession as Global Demand Dries Up

  • GDP shrinks 3% in first quarter of 2023, worse than estimates
  • Slowing global demand for semiconductors a major culprit
Traffic in central Taipei, Taiwan.Photographer: I-Hwa Cheng/Bloomberg
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Taiwan’s economy plunged into recession after shrinking at the fastest pace since the global financial crisis, a sign of how the dropoff in global demand for chips has showed little sign of abating.

Gross domestic product in the first quarter of the year plummeted 3.02% versus the same period a year ago, according to advance estimates released by the Taiwanese government’s statistics bureau on Friday.