MOEA: Southern Semiconductor Industry on the Rise, Info-Tech Employment Nears 30% of Manufacturing

(CNA, Taipei, 5th) The Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) stated today that Taiwan's information and electronics industry has become the main employment driver in the manufacturing sector. In 2024, the combined number of employees in the electronic components industry and the computer, electronic products, and optical products industry reached 850,000, accounting for nearly 30% of total manufacturing employment. This means that approximately one in every three to four manufacturing workers is employed in the information and electronics field.

Furthermore, the MOEA indicated that the number of semiconductor factories in the Tainan, Kaohsiung, and Pingtung (South) region has been increasing in recent years, with its share exceeding 20% in 2024. This shows that the semiconductor industry cluster is continuously expanding southward, accelerating the formation of a globally competitive semiconductor S-Corridor.

According to the MOEA's report on the operations and cluster distribution of the information and electronics industry released on the 5th, the total number of employees in the manufacturing sector in 2024 was 2.919 million. Among these, the "electronic components industry" had the highest number of employees at 605,000, accounting for 20.7% of total manufacturing. The "computer, electronic products, and optical products industry" employed 245,000 people, accounting for 8.4%.

The MOEA stated that when combining these two major information and electronics industries, the total number of employees reaches 850,000, accounting for 29.1% of total manufacturing. This means approximately one in every three to four manufacturing workers is in the information and electronics field.

In terms of operational performance, the information and electronics industry is also a major engine of manufacturing growth. Benefiting from the continued expansion of global demand for AI, high-performance computing, and cloud infrastructure, the manufacturing sector's operating revenue in 2024 reached NT$21.9 trillion, an annual increase of 7.6%. Operating profit reached NT$2.2 trillion, an annual increase of 29.5%. The electronic components industry and the computer, electronic products, and optical products industry were the two main growth drivers.

The MOEA pointed out that the electronic components industry, driven by strong demand for advanced semiconductor processes, saw operating revenue increase by 10.7% year-on-year, operating profit increase by 42% year-on-year, and an operating profit margin of 23.2%, the second-highest on record. The computer, electronic products, and optical products industry, boosted by a significant surge in AI server shipments, saw operating revenue increase by 34.1% year-on-year, the highest among all industries. Operating profit increased by nearly 50% year-on-year, and the operating profit margin rose to 7.1%, the highest since 2008. This reflects that the information and electronics industry is gradually moving away from its traditional low-margin profile.

Regarding the geographical distribution, the MOEA noted that the information and electronics industry has long been concentrated in central and northern Taiwan. In 2024, the Taipei-New Taipei-Keelung region had the highest share of factories at nearly 40%, followed by the Taoyuan-Hsinchu-Miaoli region at 34.7%.

However, compared to a decade ago, the share of information and electronics industry factories in the Tainan-Kaohsiung-Pingtung region increased by 1.4 percentage points, the largest increase among all regions. Furthermore, benefiting from the gradual entry of the information and electronics industry into the Southern Taiwan Science Park, the share of the employed population in the region also increased by 1 percentage point, indicating that the industry's layout is gradually extending southward.

The MOEA stated that a closer look at the development of the semiconductor industry chain reveals that there were 468 semiconductor factories nationwide in Taiwan in 2024. The Taoyuan-Hsinchu-Miaoli region, centered around the Hsinchu Science Park, had 269 factories, accounting for 57.5%, and remains the most important industrial cluster. However, the Tainan-Kaohsiung-Pingtung region has risen rapidly in recent years, with the number of semiconductor factories reaching 96, accounting for over 20% of the total. This represents a significant increase of 6 percentage points compared to a decade ago. (Editor: Yang Kaixiang) 1150605