Households comprised of people aged 65 or older have been more impacted by inflation than the rest of the population, largely due to the high weighting of their healthcare expenses and living costs, the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) said.
The consumer price index (CPI) last year for elderly households rose 1.74 percent from 2024, higher than the average 1.66 percent increase, data compiled by the DGBAS showed.
The DGBAS said it was the seventh consecutive year inflation recorded by elderly households beat the average CPI growth in Taiwan.
Photo: CNA
Like the US, Japan and Singapore, Taiwan started compiling inflation for its elderly households in 2018, DGBAS Senior Executive Officer Tsao Chih-hung (曹志弘) said last week.
What is common in the inflation faced by elderly families in these economies is that they saw higher impact from healthcare and living costs, Tsao added.
Last year, healthcare expenses accounted for 8.33 percent of the total CPI for elderly households, compared with 5.41 percent for an average family in Taiwan, while healthcare expenses rose 2.02 percent, versus the national average of 1.90 percent, the DGBAS said.
Living costs, including rent, for elderly households made up about 32 percent of the total last year and about 23 percent for the entire population’s inflation, it said.
Meanwhile, living costs rose 2.04 percent from a year for elderly families, compared with a 1.93 percent increase for the entire population, it added.
Food prices was also a critical factor for elderly households, as unstable weather boosted food prices last year, Tsao said.
Higher dining out expenses also contributed to the higher food costs of these families, the DGBAS said.
However, the CPI growth for elderly households has shown signs of moderating, it said, citing as an example last month, when inflation for elderly families was 1.27 percent, compared with 1.31 percent for the entire population.
Taiwan’s CPI growth last year fell below the 2 percent alert set by the central bank last year, the first time in four years.
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