Non-manufacturing Index launched in Taiwan

2015-02-04

Taiwan Non-manufacturing Index was inaugurated Feb. 2 in Taipei City, underscoring the government’s commitment to better measuring economic activity nationwide.

Administered by Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research under the auspices of the National Development Council, NMI is the first of its kind in Taiwan and third in the world after the U.S. and mainland China.

“Although manufacturing has long been considered Taiwan’s major growth engine, construction and services sectors actually account for over 70 percent of gross domestic product,” NDC Deputy Minister Kao Shien-quey said. “NMI will help create a comprehensive picture of the country’s overall economic development.”

NMI is the latest addition to Taiwan’s economic activity measurement stable, following the Purchasing Manager Index for manufacturing unveiled in November 2012.

CIER began compiling NMI in September 2013. The monthly survey is conducted among 250-plus local firms, more than 60 percent of which are publicly listed or among Taiwan’s top 5,000 companies as assessed by Taipei City-based China Credit Information Service Ltd.

According to CIER, the January NMI was 53.9 percent, the sixth consecutive month above the 50 percent-mark signaling a state of expansion.

Among the 12 subindexes comprising the overall benchmark, business activity, delivery, employment, exports, new orders, imports, inventory, material prices and six-month outlook all continued to expand, while backlog orders and service charges remained under the level.

In terms of sector performances, transportation and storage led the way at 63.6 percent, followed by banking and insurance at 63.4 percent, wholesales at 54.7 percent and educational and professional services at 54.2 percent. Construction and real estate, lodging and food services, as well as retail, reverted to the contractionary track.

Simultaneously released, PMI gained 3.4 percentage points to 53.5 percent in January on the strength of rising new orders and production.

Among the six major PMI sectors, food and textiles is the top performer at 61.7 percent, followed by transportation equipment at 57.3 percent and basic materials at 53.6 percent. Biotech, chemicals and medicine are the only ones in contraction at 48.6 percent.

Source: Taiwan Today (http://taiwantoday.tw/ct.asp?xItem=227078&CtNode=413)