The Compilation of the Purchasing Managers' Index for Taiwan 

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Abstract:

The Institute for Supply Management (ISM) began to produce the report on business (ROB) for the US since the early 1930s. The ROB, now known as the Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI), has become one of the most widely known and watched indicators of business activity in the United States. Its concept has also been applied in the worldwide, and more than forty countries and regions have conducted the PMI survey. The PMI is considered as a leading indicator for Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth or decline. Many international investors and central banks worldwide use the PMI to form an opinion on economic health, given their insight into sales, employment, inventory and pricing. Even Mainland China has published the PMI report on a regular basis since 2005. As Taiwan belongs to sea-island countries, and its exports contribute more than domestic demand, it is necessary and imminently to compile an official PMI for Taiwan. The National Development Council (NDC) authorized the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (CIER) to compile the PMI in the end of 2011. The PMI data have been compiled since May 2012, and were publicly released in December 2012 for the first time. The valid sample size is now much greater than 250 and the response rate is about 90%. The large valid sample size and the high response rate guarantee a more accurate snapshot of Taiwan economy. To serve as a reference for government, industries and other related academic institutes, this report presents the summary statistics of the sample, the questionnaire for the Taiwan manufacturing sector, the comparison between PMI and macroeconomic data, press releases, Report on Business (ROB), the raw data and seasonal factors for the past twelve months.