Women outnumber men in seven cities, with the ratio the lowest in Taipei, where there are only 91.8 men for every 100 women, the Ministry of the Interior said yesterday
In a report on the nation’s demographic trends as of the end of last month, the ministry identified the seven cities with more women than men as Taipei, New Taipei City, Taoyuan, Hsinchu, Taichung, Chiayi and Kaohsiung.
Men outnumbered women in 15 other cities and counties.
Taiwan’s population was 23.51 million as of the end of last month, up 0.07 percent from the end of last year, mainly because births exceeded deaths in the first six months of the year.
The six special municipalities — Taipei, New Taipei City, Taoyuan, Taichung, Tainan and Kaohsiung — make up 68.98 percent of the nation’s total population, according to the report.
The national gender ratio — the number of men for every 100 women — continued to fall, the ministry said, because of different mortality rates between men and women and an increase in female spouses from overseas, mainly from China.
The ratio, which dipped below 100 for the first time in November 2013, had fallen to 99.28 as of the end of last month, the report said.
The report also shows that among the 22 cities and counties, Chiayi County had the highest aging index, standing at 167.9 as of the end of last month.
Meanwhile, Hsinchu was the youngest city, with an aging index of 61.2.
The aging index refers to the ratio of the number of elderly people of an age when they are generally economically inactive — aged 65 and over — to the number of young people — aged 14 or younger — in every 100 people.
The ministry said the high ratio of elderly people in Chiayi can be attributed to an exodus of young people from the largely agricultural county, where job openings are scarce.
The reason that Hsinchu has stayed young is its many science parks, which attract young workers, the ministry said.
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