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Study shows steady rise in civic groups

The number of civic groups has been rising steadily, with a larger than usual increase in the first half of this year, a study conducted by the Ministry of the Interior shows.

According to the study, for the past ten years there have been about 1,575 new civic groups registered every year. But in the first five months of this year alone, 1,060 new groups were registered. The total number of civic groups at the end of June was 32,908.

In accordance with the Civic Organizations Law (人民團體法), civic groups are classified into political, professional and social groups.

The statistics shows that most of the civic groups are social groups (71 percent), followed by professional groups (28 percent) and political groups (0.4 percent).

"Of the social groups, social charity groups make up the majority [7,574]. Most of professional groups are represented by labor unions [4,275] and most political groups are political parties [106]," stated a MOI press release.

The Civic Organization Law defines a political party as one that is based on the principle of democracy, assists citizens to form political ideologies and urges citizen participation in politics. Groups that nominate candidates for civil elections are defined as political parties.

There were six new political parties registered in the first five months of this year, making a total of 144.

By the end of June, there were 9,395 professional groups in total, which is up 155 from last year.

Among professional groups, there are 4,275 labor unions, 2,470 commercial or labor groups, 2,306 freelance groups, 304 agricultural groups and 40 fishermen's groups.

A social group is one that provides cultural, academic, medical, health, religious, charity, sports or social services.

As of the end of June, there were 23,369 social groups registered, with 899 new groups this year.

Within social groups, there are 7,574 social service and charity groups, 3,822 academic and cultural groups, 2,652 sports groups, 2,596 economics groups, 2,180 international groups, 1,004 religious groups and 736 medical and health groups.
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