More than one-quarter of the nation’s administrative regions became “super-aged societies” last year, ahead of the National Development Council’s predictions, Ministry of the Interior statistics showed.
The council estimated that Taiwan would become a super-aged society — meaning more than 20 percent of the population is aged 65 or older — next year.
In addition to Taipei, and Nantou, Yunlin and Chiayi counties, which became super-aged societies in 2022, Keelung and Pingtung County became super-aged societies last year, the ministry’s data showed.
Photo: Taipei Times file
Of the nation’s 22 administrative regions, six, or 27 percent, have become super-aged.
The WHO defines an “aging society” as one in which more than 7 percent of the population is aged 65 or older, an “aged society” as one in which more than 14 percent of people fit into that category and a “super-aged society” as one in which more than 20 percent do.
As people born in the 1950s and 1960s are now reaching retirement age and the nation’s birthrate is declining, Taiwan’s society is aging fast.
The crude birthrate last year dropped to 5.81 births per 1,000 people, a record low and much lower than the 30 to 40 births per 1,000 people between the late 1950s and early 1960s, the ministry’s statistics showed.
The number of deaths has been higher than the number of births per year for four consecutive years, with the population’s natural growth rate being minus-69,797 last year, the statistics showed.
In Chiayi County last year, 22.36 percent of people were aged 65 or older. The rate was 22.02 percent in Taipei, 20.83 percent in Nantou County, 20.63 percent in Yunlin County, 20.24 percent in Keelung and 20.14 percent in Pingtung County.
The cities and counties with the lowest percentage of people aged 65 of older last year were Hsinchu City with 14.76 percent, Lienchiang County with 14.89 percent, Taoyuan with 15.06 percent and Taichung with 15.79 percent.
However, according to the WHO’s definition, the youngest city in Taiwan is still an “aged society.”
Among the six special municipalities, Taipei was the first to become a “super-aged society,” and Kaohsiung, with 19.01 percent of its population aged 65 or older, is likely to become the second, followed by Tainan with 18.78 percent, New Taipei City with 18.02 percent, Taichung with 15.79 percent and Taoyuan with 15.06 percent.
Taiwan is projected to lose a working-age population of about 6.67 million people in two waves of retirement in the coming years, as the nation confronts accelerating demographic decline and a shortage of younger workers to take their place, the Ministry of the Interior said. Taiwan experienced its largest baby boom between 1958 and 1966, when the population grew by 3.78 million, followed by a second surge of 2.89 million between 1976 and 1982, ministry data showed. In 2023, the first of those baby boom generations — those born in the late 1950s and early 1960s — began to enter retirement, triggering
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