Married people in Taiwan last year passed away at the average age of 70.12 years, while those who had never been married lived until they were only 53.68 years on average, according to recent government statistics released by the Ministry of the Interior.
The figures from the ministry show that 153,000 people died in Taiwan last year, at an average age of 71.01, an increase in longevity of 3.69 years when compared with 2001.
The survey results also showed that divorced people lived for an average 59.47 years.
Women who died last year lived up to 74.14 years on average, around five years longer than men, who died at an average age of 69.04.
Date from that same period showed people in Taipei lived the longest, 74.48 years, followed by 74.32 in Penghu County and 73.23 in Lienchiang County.
The lowest age at death was recorded in Taitung County in eastern Taiwan and New Taipei City in the north of the country, at 69.2 years.
Last year, the crude death rate — the total number of deaths per year per 1,000 people — in Taiwan was 6.61, which represented a slight increase compared with the previous year due to the country’s aging population.
According to last year’s world population data, released by the Population Reference Bureau in the US, Taiwan’s crude death rate was lower than the average of 10 per 1,000 in developed countries such as the US, the UK, Germany, Japan and France, and eight per 1,000 in developing countries.
However, the rate in Taiwan was still higher than the figures reported in Singapore and South Korea.
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