Taiwan’s manufacturing sentiment indicator rose in September 2026 as current conditions improved, but manufacturers became more cautious about the next six months, according to the Taiwan Institute of Economic Research (TIER).
The Manufacturing Composite Indicator gained 0.50 points to 101.39, compared with a revised 100.89 in August 2026. TIER said the modest increase did not point to a significant shift in manufacturers’ assessments of business conditions.
For current conditions, 26.8% of respondents said business had improved, up from 19.5% in August. The share reporting deterioration fell to 20.3% from 25.6%.
Expectations moved in the opposite direction. The proportion anticipating improvement over the next six months slipped 3.1 percentage points from August to 24.0%, while the share expecting deterioration rose 1.8 points to 19.8%.
TIER linked the September reading to several sources of support. Production resumed after scheduled maintenance, and manufacturers built inventories for new products. The institute also cited continued global investment in AI infrastructure. Rising oil prices lifted prices for petrochemicals and plastic and rubber feedstocks, which TIER cited as support for September sentiment.
The institute said unresolved conflict in the Middle East and rising memory-chip costs could weigh on consumer-electronics demand, adding to manufacturers’ caution about the six-month outlook. Its indicator is based on survey responses about current business conditions and expectations; it measures sentiment rather than factory output.
Elsewhere in the survey, the services composite indicator dropped 3.15 points to 92.65, marking its third consecutive monthly decline. The construction indicator rose 2.81 points to 110.42, TIER reported.
