TAIPEI (Reuters) -Taiwan’s economy could grow close to 6% this year given the unexpected strong performance in the third quarter, the head of the statistics agency said on Thursday, as the island reaps the benefits from the artificial intelligence (AI) boom.

Taiwan’s export-oriented economy has soaked up strong demand in the crucial semiconductor and tech sector thanks to AI, which has offset the impact from the 20% tariff on exports to the United States the Trump administration has imposed.

Taiwan’s gross domestic product grew 7.64% year-on-year in the July-September quarter, surpassing the 6.0% forecast by economists in a Reuters poll and paving the way to raise the full-year forecast to more than 5%, the agency said last month.

Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics

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