One-person households accounted for more than 40 percent of all registered households for the first time last year, while three-generation family households fell below 10 percent, Ministry of the Interior data showed, suggesting that Taiwanese society appears to be growing increasingly “lonely” as the nation’s birthrate continues to decline amid the “silver tsunami.”
Of the 9.85 million registered households in Taiwan last year, 3.99 million were one-person residences, surpassing 40 percent for the first time, the data showed.
That means at least four in every 10 households are made up of only one person, becoming the core unit of Taiwanese society, it showed.
Meanwhile, three-generation households with at least five members — which used to be a symbol of thriving families capable of caring for older family members — unprecedentedly dipped below 10 percent, or about 910,000 households, the data showed.
The decline of three-generation families not only reflected the nation’s declining birthrate and rural youth flight, but was also a warning that there might eventually be a lack of family support for the life and health of elderly people, a ministry official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
The loneliest administrative area in Taiwan is not the metropolis with the fastest living pace, but an outlying island and traditional port towns, the data showed.
Penghu County’s one-person households account for 44.41 percent of all households in the county, the highest nationwide, followed by Keelung at 44.31 percent and Yilan County at 43.52 percent, it showed.
Most elderly people in these areas were living alone due to severe population outflows, the data showed.
New Taipei City has the most number of single-person households among the administrative areas, totaling 758,000, or 42.43 percent of all households in the city, it showed.
Although it is lower than Penghu County’s percentage, those households still represent a tough challenge for social welfare and lonely aging in New Taipei City, the data showed.
The official said the trend of loneliness is consistently developing nationwide.
Traditional social contracts such as “rearing children as an aging insurance” and family support are breaking down, which are urgent challenges posed by a super-aged society that the government has to address, they said.
The data also showed that there are no more “young cities” in Taiwan.
Hsinchu county and city, known as the technological hub of Taiwan, in 2024 had more children than elderly people, with an aging index below 100 percent, the data showed.
However, the situation changed last year due to population aging and low birthrates, with the county’s aging index reaching 101.88 percent and the city’s surging to 106.59 percent, it showed.
The oldest city among the six special municipalities is Taipei, with an aging index of 202.06 percent last year, followed by Kaohsiung at 192.1 percent, New Taipei City at 185.54 percent and Tainan at 184.96 percent, the data showed.
Taoyuan and Taichung — which were “young cities” four years ago, with aging indices lower than 100 percent — saw their indices rise to 127.33 percent and 136.45 percent respectively, the data showed.
Chiayi County remained on top of the list with an aging index of 291.69 percent, followed by Kinmen County’s 255.57 percent and Keelung’s 240.21 percent, it showed.
The aging indices of nine administrative areas, or nearly 25 percent, surpassed 200 percent last year, the data showed.
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