The National Development Council (NDC) said Taiwan’s September business-monitoring score rose to 41 from August’s revised 40, keeping the gauge in its red category. Focus Taiwan reported that the result marked a record 10th consecutive month in red, exceeding the previous nine-month run from February to October 2021.
The NDC’s red band spans 38 to 45 points and signals booming economic conditions. The score draws on nine components, including share prices, exports, industrial production and business sentiment.
Overtime hours in industry and services were the only component to change signal in September. Their annual rate of change rose to 4.6% from August’s revised 1.1%, moving the indicator from green to yellow-red and adding one point to the composite score. The other eight component signals were unchanged.
The NDC’s trend-adjusted leading index rose 0.56% month over month to 104.69, extending its run of monthly increases to 14 months. Its coincident index, which tracks current conditions, edged up 0.01% to 105.21 for a 12th consecutive monthly increase.
Chen Mei-chu, director of the NDC’s Department of Economic Development, told Focus Taiwan the current expansion is advancing despite a higher comparison base than in 2021. She identified semiconductor strength as a central driver and said AI demand was also reaching suppliers of materials and equipment used in electronics manufacturing.
The NDC said expanding global AI infrastructure was supporting exports of electronics and information-and-communications-technology products. TrendForce projected that capital spending by the world’s nine leading cloud service providers would exceed US$1.5 trillion in 2027, up 60% from its 2026 forecast.
The council also flagged geopolitical conflict, changes in trade policy, financing concerns among AI companies and major central-bank decisions as uncertainties for Taiwan’s outlook. The NDC’s next business-indicator release is scheduled for Nov. 27.
