The Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) today announced global semiconductor industry sales totaled $573.5 billion in 2022, the highest-ever annual total and an increase of 3.2% compared to the 2021 total of $555.9 billion. Sales slowed during the second half of the year, however. Fourth-quarter sales of $130.2 billion were 14.7% less than the total from the fourth quarter of 2021 and 7.7% lower than the total from third quarter of 2022. And global sales for the month of December 2022 were $43.4 billion, a decrease of 4.4% compared to November 2022 total. Monthly sales are compiled by the World Semiconductor Trade Statistics (WSTS) organization and represent a three-month moving average. SIA represents 99% of the U.S. semiconductor industry by revenue and nearly two-thirds of non-U.S. chip firms.

"The global semiconductor market experienced significant ups and downs in 2022, with record-high sales early in the year followed by a cyclical downturn taking hold later in the year," said John Neuffer, SIA president and CEO. "Despite short-term fluctuations in sales due to market cyclicality and macroeconomic conditions, the long-term outlook for the semiconductor market remains incredibly strong, due to the ever-increasing role of chips in making the world smarter, more efficient, and better connected."On a regional basis, sales into the Americas market saw the largest increase (16.0%) in 2022. China remained the largest individual market for semiconductors, with sales there totaling $180.3 billion in 2022, a decrease of 6.3% compared to 2021. Annual sales also increased in 2022 in Europe (12.7%) and Japan (10.0%). Sales for the month of December 2022 decreased compared to November 2022 across all regions: Europe (-0.7%), Japan (-0.8%), Asia Pacific/All Other (-3.5%), China (-5.7%), and the Americas (-6.5%).

Several semiconductor product segments stood out in 2022. Analog, a type of semiconductor that is commonly used in vehicles, consumer goods, and computers, had the highest annual growth rate of 7.5%, reaching $89 billion in 2022 sales. Logic ($176 billion in 2022 sales) and memory ($130 billion) were the largest semiconductor categories by sales. Sales of automotive ICs grew by 29.2% year-over-year to a record total of $34.1 billion.