Nation’s birth rate still in decline, set to hit record low

The nation’s birth rate has continued its downward trend, with the number of newborns expected to drop to a new low this year, tallies from the Ministry of the Interior (MOI) showed.

Just 137,967 babies were born in Taiwan in the first nine months of the year, representing a 3.4 percent decline from the same period a year earlier, the statistic showed.

“Given this trend, the total number of this year’s newborns could fall below 192,000, which would be a new low in the country’s history,” an MOI official said.

The number of newborns slid below the benchmark 200,000 for the first time last year, when only 198,733 babies were born.

The MOI tallies showed that Hsinchu City boasted the highest per capita birth rate of 9.4 births per 1,000 people for the January-September period, while Keelung City recorded the lowest birth rate of 4.9. Compared with the same period last year, Kinmen and Lienchiang counties saw the biggest growth in their birth rates, both increasing by 0.5 births per 1,000 people, while Chiayi City posted the biggest decline of 0.5 births per 1,000 people.

In terms of maternal nationality, 91.2 percent of the newborns were delivered by Taiwanese nationals, 4.7 percent were born to women from China, Hong Kong and Macau, and 4.1 percent were born to people from other countries.

Over the past six years, the MOI official said, the annual number of births to women from China and its two territories has remained about the same, but the number of newborns delivered by spouses from elsewhere has been declining steadily.

In terms of marital status, 132,450 newborns, or 96 percent of the total, were born to married couples, while 5,489 or 3.98 percent were born out of wedlock, and 28, or 0.02 percent, were deserted babies or orphans.

Taitung County had the highest number of babies outside marriage, followed by neighboring Hualien County and Keelung City.

The number of babies born out of wedlock marked a 0.22 percent decrease from last year’s level, but an increase of 1.06 percent from 1997, the MOI tallies showed.