TAIPEI, Sept 7: Taiwan’s exports in August grew an annual 10.5 per cent, beating expectations, as an unexpected drop in imports due to fewer oil purchases led to the second-largest trade surplus on record, the government said on Friday.

Exports to the US, however, logged their biggest fall ever of 11.5pc to hit $2.65bn, a finance ministry official said, indicating that demand from the world’s largest economy is weakening.

The exports combined with the import drop, resulted in a trade surplus of $3.3bn for August, well above the $821m median of a Reuters poll.