Population growth in Taiwan last year was once more in the green, up 155,802 compared with 2022 after declines since 2020, although the number of children born was down 3,415 from a year earlier, the Ministry of the Interior said yesterday.
Ministry data showed that residents in Taiwan rose to 23.42 million last year, an average daily increase of 426.85.
The figures combined natural population growth with immigration data, including migrant workers, the ministry said.
Photo: CNA
Natural population growth last year, or the number of births minus the mortality rate, was minus-69,797, the data showed.
Net immigration was 225,599, they showed.
There were 135,571 babies born last year, a new record low after year-on-year decreases for the past five years, the ministry said.
Deaths totaled 205,368, down 1,862 from 2022, it said.
There were 125,192 marriages last year, up 195 compared with 2022, a three-year high, while 53,085 couples filed for divorce, the data showed.
Separately, Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research vice president Wang Chien-chuan (王健全) said that a low birthrate affects the economy.
The government must formulate policies to address the issue, Wang said.
The National Development Council should formulate a population policy and work with other agencies to address issues such as immigration and migrant workers, social housing, transportation and high living expenses for young people, as well as introducing policies to grow industries and increase wages, he said.
Meanwhile, Mackay Memorial Hospital gynecologist Huang Chien-pei (黃建霈) said that while government policies to promote childbirth have had moderate success in work environments and childcare, low wages and high housing prices have not been dealt with effectively.
Not even the auspicious Year of the Dragon is likely to boost the population much, despite previous dragon years averaging a 10 percent increase in newborns, Huang said.
Subsidies for new parents in Taiwan are not as high as those in some other countries, he said, adding that tax breaks or lower mortgage rates would be a significant incentive for people to have more children.
Health Promotion Administration Director-General Wu Chao-chun (吳昭軍) said that his agency has mulled amendments to the Assisted Reproduction Act (人工生殖法).
Legalizing same-sex marriage in Taiwan has led to discussion of same-sex couples seeking to have children, while others who want to remain single have also begun looking into the possibility of having children through assisted reproduction, he said.
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