Taiwan’s population continued to decline in the first quarter of this year, as the nation’s deaths outnumbered births by more than 12,000, data compiled by the Ministry of the Interior showed.
The number of deaths was 47,626, while the number of births was 34,917 during the period, the data showed.
The number of births fell by 5,497, or 13.6 percent, from a year earlier, while the number of deaths increased by 659, or 1.4 percent, the data showed.
Taiwan’s population declined for the first time last year, with 165,249 births and 173,156 deaths, earlier data showed.
Among the 34,917 births in the first quarter of this year, 18,031 were boys and 16,886 were girls, while the crude birthrate was 6.01 per 1,000, the latest data showed.
In January, the number of monthly births dropped below 10,000 for the first time in the nation’s history, with 9,601 babies born, while 11,497 were born in February and 13,819 last month.
Taiwan also reported negative net migration in the first three months of this year, the data showed.
A total of 2.25 million people immigrated, down 7.34 percent annually, while 2.48 million emigrated, up 2.04 percent year-on-year.
As of the end of last month, the total population stood at 23,525,623, down 0.3 percent from a year earlier, or a loss of 194.2 people on average per day.
Academics have attributed the declining number of births to a lower number of marriages, the ministry said.
In the first quarter, 28,755 couples got married, down 13.25 percent from the same period last year, ministry data showed.
At the same time, the number of divorces also fell by 6.92 percent to 11,691 from a year earlier, the data showed.
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