Pingtung County’s population last year dropped for a 16th consecutive year to 829,939, the latest statistics from the Ministry of the Interior showed.
Pingtung’s population last year declined by 5,853 people from 2015, the report said, adding that the county saw 4,824 births and 8,613 deaths, while experiencing an outflow of 2,064 people.
Since 2003, Pingtung’s birth rate has fallen to fewer than 10,000 births per year and in 2007, the annual birth rate fell below 7,000, the report said.
In 15 years, the number of births per year in Pingtung has dropped by more than half, according to government statistics.
Pingtung’s population was approximately 465,000 in 1950 and grew to a peak of 913,000 in 1997, before beginning to decline in 2002, historical data showed.
Pingtung’s population is almost what it was in 1971, the statistics showed.
The county’s population has dropped by just over 83,000 since its peak in 1997 — more than the populations of the county’s Donggang (東港) and Hengchun (恆春) townships combined.
There has been a trend among the younger generation to not get married or have children, Pingtung’s Department of Civil Affairs Director Cheng Wen-hua (鄭文華) said, adding that this has caused the rapid birth rate decline.
The root of the problem is still employment opportunities, Cheng said, adding that population retention needs decent salaries.
Pingtung has been positioned as an agricultural county for a long time, Cheng said, adding that the county’s employment opportunities and salaries are destined to be bad, which has caused people to leave for the nation’s six special municipalities.
The county government aims to change Pingtung’s industry environment and create high-quality employment, Cheng said.
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