US, Europe woes cause slowdown in Taiwan output

TAIPEI: Industrial output in Taiwan slowed abruptly in September, weighed by a slowdown in demand from major markets in the United States and Europe, the island's government said Monday.

Last month, industrial output rose 1.62 percent from the same month a year earlier, compared with 3.97 percent year-on-year growth in August, as electronics in particular took a hit, the economics ministry said.

"The main reason was the continuation of the European debt crisis and the slowdown in the US economic recovery, impacting the semiconductor and electronics industries," the ministry said in a statement.

Taiwan's government recently lowered the 2011 full year economic growth forecast to 4.81 percent from 5.01 amid growing uncertainty in the international economic outlook.