Inflation rose to 2.73% in September, its largest increase in more than 2.5 years, reports said Wednesday. The figure also marked the fifth month in a row that the consumer price index stayed above the government’s 2% warning threshold, per Liberty Times. More expensive vegetables, oil products, and airplane tickets were the main causes behind the increase.
Taiwan’s headline inflation accelerated to a 31-month high in Sep-26, with the Consumer Price Index (CPI) rising +2.73%yoy (Aug-26: +2.05%yoy), marking the fifth consecutive month above the central bank’s 2.0% threshold. The increase was driven mainly by higher food prices, which rose +2.64%yoy (Aug-26: +0.77%yoy). Inflation also strengthened in transportation and communication +4.07%yoy (Aug-26: +2.79%yoy), clothing(+2.32%yoy; Aug-26: +2.09%yoy), housing(+2.38%yoy; Aug-26: +2.31%yoy) and healthcare(+0.70%yoy; Aug-26: +0.57%yoy).
Conversely, inflation moderated slightly in education and entertainment(+3.15%yoy; Aug-26: +3.22%yoy) and miscellaneous goods and services(+2.77%yoy; Aug-26: +2.81%yoy). On a seasonally adjusted basis, consumer prices increased +0.13%mom (Aug-26: +0.19%mom), marking the slowest monthly increase since Nov-25.
The Sept-26 inflation data suggests that headline price pressures in Taiwan have picked up, driven mainly by food and selected services-related categories. However, the softer monthly increase indicates that the rise in headline inflation may not yet reflect a broad-based acceleration in underlying price pressures. As such, inflation is likely to remain elevated in the near term, although much of the recent increase appears to be concentrated in a few components rather than across the entire consumption basket.
Looking ahead, MBSB said it expects the Central Bank of the Republic of China (Taiwan) to maintain a cautious policy stance as inflation remains above its 2.0% target. Nevertheless, policymakers are likely to continue balancing inflation risks against external uncertainties, particularly given Taiwan’s heavy reliance on exports and the evolving outlook for global technology demand.
