The Council of Economic Planning and Development (CEPD) announced that Taiwan’s internet penetration rate is ranked 4th in Asia, rising from 6.26 million people in 2000 to 16.15 million in 2011, increasing by 1.6 times.
The Liberty Times reported that, according to a survey conducted by the international marketing organization Miniwatts at the end of June this year, Taiwan’s internet penetration rate is 70 percent. As for the regional average internet access rate, Taiwan is higher than the average for Asia (23.8%), Europe (58.3%) and Africa (11.4%) and is only slightly below that of North America (78.3%). Out of 12 major Asian countries, Taiwan’s internet penetration rate is ranked No. 4, behind South Korea’s 80.9 percent, Japan 78.4 percent and Singapore’s 77.2 percent.
Another study conducted by the Ministry of Economic Affairs showed that Taiwan’s e-commerce market was NT$ 259.6 billion (US$8.66 billion) in 2010, and is estimated to grow 26.5 percent to NT$325.6 billion (US$10.85 billion) in 2011,and increase further to NT$407.5 billion (US$13.58 billion) in 2012.
The Liberty Times reported that Taiwan’s overall internet penetration rate continues to rise, and corporate use of the internet is growing rapidly, further stimulating the growth of e-commerce. With the government’s active promotion of the cloud computing industry and digital convergence development, Taiwan is seeking to establish a better e-commerce environment in line with international standards.