TAIPEI, Jan 31 (Reuters) - Taiwan's trade-dependent economy accelerated in the fourth quarter, growing faster than expected thanks to strong domestic consumption and a rebound in exports, and expanded 1.4% for the full year.

Taiwan is a key hub in the global technology supply chain for companies such as Apple Inc, and home to the world's largest contract chipmaker, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co Ltd (TSMC) .

Gross domestic product grew by a preliminary 5.12% in the October-December period from a year earlier, the statistics agency said on Wednesday, beating the 4.35% growth forecast by analysts in a Reuters poll.

Quarter-on-quarter, the economy expanded at a seasonally adjusted annualised rate of 8.79%.

GDP grew 2.32% year-on-year in the third quarter.

Taiwan's exports, a main driver of the island's economy, emerged from a year-long decline in September.

Fourth-quarter exports rose 3.4% year-on-year after contracting at a 5.1% annual rate in the third quarter, while the island's trade surplus leapt 131% year-on-year in the final three months of the year.

Full year growth of 1.4% slightly missed the statistics bureau's November forecast of 1.42%, its slowest pace in 14 years and lower than the 2.45% growth for 2022.

The economy in China, Taiwan's largest export market, grew 5.2% year-on-year in the fourth quarter, picking up from 4.9% in the third quarter, but missing a 5.3% forecast in a Reuters poll.

Taiwan's statistics agency will provide revised figures a few weeks later, with more details and forward-looking forecasts. (Reporting by Jeanny Kao and Faith Hung; Editing by Christopher Cushing and Tomasz Janowski)