Taiwan's economy grew by 3.42 per cent year-on-year in the fourth quarter, dpa quoted the government as saying Thursday. The figures were up from the previous quarter's 0.98-per-cent annual expansion in gross domestic product (GDP), and brought the growth for the year to 1.25 per cent, 0.1 percentage points higher than predicted, the national statistics bureau said. Exports, key to the island's economy, were up 9 per cent in December from a year previously, the Finance Ministry said on January 7. Taiwan companies manufacture most of the world's personal computers, and supply a significant proportion of the components of smartphones and tablet computers. China, which accounted for 40 per cent of Taiwan's exports in December, saw its GDP grow 7.9 per cent year-on-year in the fourth quarter, up from 7.4 per cent in the previous quarter. Taiwan's statistics bureau raised its forecast for growth in 2013 to 3.53 per cent.
