TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – AI and new phones helped the economy return to strong growth in August, the National Development Council (NDC) said Friday (Sept. 27).

The main economic monitoring indicator rose four points from July to reach 39 points, its highest level since November 2021, per CNA. According to the five-color scale used to represent overall economic performance, Taiwan saw a red light flashing.

Blue stands for contraction, while yellow-blue represents sluggishness, green indicates stable growth, yellow-red stands for a warming economy, and red means the economy is booming or overheating.

Of the nine factors determining the overall indicator, custom-cleared exports, the industrial production subindex, and average monthly overtime hours for the industrial and service sectors all improved to turn red. The other six factors remained the same as in July, according to the NDC.

The government department named the strong demand for AI technology, the launch of new phone models by international brands, improving business for the traditional sectors of industry, and production delays caused by Typhoon Gaemi striking the country in late July as the main reasons for the improvement recorded in August.