The nation’s birth rate continued to decline, with only 110,379 babies born in the first seven months of the year, down 6 percent from the same period last year, a survey by the Ministry of the Interior showed yesterday. In 2007, 254,000 babies were born in Taiwan, while in 2010 about 166,000 were born. In 2012, the birth rate climbed to 229,000, the highest in the past decade, the ministry said, adding that about 208,000 babies were born last year.
This year, 96.23 percent of babies were parented by married couples, while 4,157 babies were not, the survey found.
Lienchiang County last year had the highest birth rate, followed by Taoyuan and Changhua County, while Chiayi and Pingtung counties and Keelung had the lowest rates.
Compared with the same period last year, the birth rates in all municipalities, except Penghu County, are declining, the ministry said.
The number of women from China, Hong Kong and Macau who gave birth in Taiwan is also in decline, from 4.95 percent 10 years ago, to 3.33 percent last year, to 3.05 percent last month, the ministry said.
The declining birth rate is the result of fewer marriages and of people choosing to get married when they are older, Department of Household Registration Affairs Director Wanda Chang (張琬宜) said.
Wages, housing prices and social welfare provisions also affect people’s willingness to have children, she said.
More babies were born in the Year of the Dragon, which last occurred in 2012, while there were fewer in the Year of the Tiger, which last occurred in 2010, Chang said.
To encourage more young people to have children, the ministry is promoting social housing to relieve financial stress, she said, adding that the Ministry of Health and Welfare earlier this year set up an office tasked with boosting the nation’s birth rate.
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