Global chip sales race towards $1t as February smashes records

Asia-Pacific led a near-across-the-board regional rally.

Global chip sales leapt to $88.8 billion (£68.5bn) in February 2026, surging 61.8% year on year and 7.6% from January, as soaring demand across Asia-Pacific, the Americas, and China drove the semiconductor industry closer to an historic milestone.

The Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA), which represents 99% of the United States semiconductor sector by revenue and nearly two-thirds of non-US chip firms, released the figures on 3 April, drawing on data compiled by the World Semiconductor Trade Statistics (WSTS) organisation as a three-month moving average.

The regional breakdown underscores the breadth of the rally. Year on year, Asia-Pacific led all regions with growth of 93.5%, followed by the Americas at 59.2%, China at 57.4%, and Europe at 42.3%. Japan was the sole outlier, slipping 0.3%.

Month on month, the picture was similarly buoyant. The Americas posted the sharpest sequential gain at 12.6%, with Europe up 10.2%, Asia-Pacific 6.0%, China 3.6%, and Japan 3.0%.

SIA president and chief executive John Neuffer said the industry showed no signs of losing momentum. "Sales into the Asia-Pacific region, the Americas, and China were all major drivers of year-to-year growth. Strong global demand is expected to persist during the remainder of the year, with annual sales projected to reach roughly $1 trillion globally," he said.

That projection would mark a watershed for an industry that recorded $791.7b in full-year sales in 2025. Last year's figure already represented the highest-ever annual total, surpassing the prior year's $630.5b by 25.6%.

The February data reinforces the view that artificial intelligence-driven demand — particularly for advanced logic and memory chips — continues to reshape the global technology supply chain at an unprecedented pace.