Taiwan depends heavily on US technology, with the US accounting for almost 80 percent of the nation’s total imported technology costs, the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) said yesterday in its latest report on costs of imported technology and exported revenue.

The cost of imported technology totaled NT$160.1 billion (US$5.28 billion) in 2015, with the US accounting for NT$124.3 billion or about 78 percent of the total, the report said.

Imported technology costs include expenses such as royalty payments, licensing fees, technology aids and consulting fees, the ministry said.

Japan was in second place with costs of Japanese imports totaling NT$21.3 billion or 13.3 percent of the total in 2015, it said.

Import costs for 2015 fell 1.9 percent from the year before, when costs rose 7.9 percent from 2013, the ministry added.

Import costs incurred by the electronic components sector were NT$87.4 billion, or 54.6 percent of the total, with electronic connector and printed circuit board firms paying a large amount in licensing fees, the data showed.

The computer and optoelectronics industry had the second-largest imported costs at NT$46.4 billion, or 29 percent of the total.

Taiwan’s exported technology revenue in 2015 reached NT$36.2 billion, 6.9 percent more than the year before 2014.

China-Hong Kong was the largest buyer of local technology, with purchases hitting NT$12.7 billion, accounting for 35.1 percent of the total exported revenue.