Toy Import up 20 Percent;

Export Grows 13 Percent

Taiwan exported US$477.95 million worth of toys in 2004, an increase of 13.82 percent compared with the same period a year earlier, the statistics released by the Taiwan Toy and Children's Article Manufacturers Association (TCMA) showed.

The United States was the biggest destination for Taiwan-made toys, accounting for 42.13 percent, followed by the U.K. (7.11 percent), Japan (6.97 percent), Germany (4.23 percent) and mainland China (3.15 percent). Shipments to other countries comprised 36.41 percent of Taiwan's total exports of toys. In 2003, Taiwan's total toy exports amounted to US$419.90 million, with the U.S. being the top market, taking 45.36 percent.

Taiwan's imports of toys from other countries in 2004 were valued at NT$6.211 billion, a growth of 20.27 percent from the year before, the TCMA figures showed. A year earlier, Taiwan imported NT$5.164 billion worth of toys.

Mainland China was the biggest supplier of toys to Taiwan market, consisting of 78.42 percent of Taiwan's total imports, valued at  NT$4.871 billion, followed by Japan (14.43 percent), the U.S. (1.30 percent), Thailand (1.21 percent) and South Korea (0.80 percent).

China biggest supplier

Toy imports from mainland China have been on the rise over the last five years, the TCMA statistics showed. In 2000, Taiwan imported NT$3.282 billion worth of toys from the mainland where a great many Taiwan toy makers have set up manufacturing facilities for the production of toys for local consumption and export.

In 2001 and 2002, imports of toys were valued at NT$2.821 billion and NT$2.938 billion respectively. While the imports in 2003 stood at NT$3.575 billion, the 2004 imports amounted to NT$4.871 billion, the highest in five years, accounting for more than 78 percent of Taiwan's total imports of toys in that year.