The nation’s population stood at 23.43 million at the end of last year, with women outnumbering men by more than 30,000, according to the latest Ministry of the Interior statistics.
There were 11,697,971 men, or 49.92 percent of the population at the end of last year, compared with 11,735,782 women, or 50.08 percent of the population. Women outnumbered men by 37,811.
In terms of the gender structure of the population of Taiwan’s 22 cities and counties, women outnumbered men in the relatively urban areas of Taipei, New Taipei City, Hsinchu, Greater Taichung, Greater Kaohsiung and Chiayi, while men outnumbered women in other cities and counties.
The sex ratio — the number of males per 100 females — was at its lowest in Taipei at 92.1 and at its highest in outlying Lienchiang County at 133.6.
In terms of the age structure of the population at the end of last year, there were 3.28 million people aged 0-14, or 14 percent of the total.
There were 17.35 million people aged 15-64, or 74 percent of the total, and 2.81 million people aged 65 or older, or 12 percent of the total.
The ratio of senior citizens remained on the upswing, the ministry said, adding that it has continued to climb since Taiwan first met the threshold for an aging society — 7 percent of the total population 65 or older — in 1993.
The nation’s aging index — the number of seniors per every 100 young people under the age of 15 — was 85.7 at the end of last year, an increase of 36.7 over the past decade.
Although Taiwan’s aging index at the end of last year was lower than that of Canada, Japan and several European nations, it was higher than that of the US, Australia, New Zealand and other Asian countries.
China has reserved offshore airspace in the Yellow Sea and East China Sea from March 27 to May 6, issuing alerts usually used to warn of military exercises, although no such exercises have been announced, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported yesterday. Reserving such a large area for 40 days without explanation is an “unusual step,” as military exercises normally only last a few days, the paper said. These alerts, known as Notice to Air Missions (Notams), “are intended to inform pilots and aviation authorities of temporary airspace hazards or restrictions,” the article said. The airspace reserved in the alert is
South Korea is planning to revise its controversial electronic arrival card, a step Taiwanese officials said prompted them to hold off on planned retaliatory measures, a South Korean media report said yesterday. A Yonhap News Agency report said that the South Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs is planning to remove the “previous departure place” and “next destination” fields from its e-arrival card system. The plan, reached after interagency consultations, is under review and aims to simplify entry procedures and align the electronic form with the paper version, a South Korean ministry official said. The fields — which appeared only on the electronic form
More than 6,000 Taiwanese students have participated in exchange programs in China over the past two years, despite the Mainland Affairs Council’s (MAC) “orange light” travel advisory, government records showed. The MAC’s publicly available registry showed that Taiwanese college and university students who went on exchange programs across the Strait numbered 3,592 and 2,966 people respectively. The National Immigration Agency data revealed that 2,296 and 2,551 Chinese students visited Taiwan for study in the same two years. A review of the Web sites of publicly-run universities and colleges showed that Taiwanese higher education institutions continued to recruit students for Chinese educational programs without
A bipartisan group of US senators has introduced a bill to enhance cooperation with Taiwan on drone development and to reduce reliance on supply chains linked to China. The proposed Blue Skies for Taiwan Act of 2026 was introduced by Republican US senators Ted Cruz and John Curtis, and Democratic US senators Jeff Merkley and Andy Kim. The legislation seeks to ease constraints on Taiwan-US cooperation in uncrewed aerial systems (UAS), including dependence on China-sourced components, limited access to capital and regulatory barriers under US export controls, a news release issued by Cruz on Wednesday said. The bill would establish a "Blue UAS
RSS