The nation’s population could be entering negative growth, the Ministry of the Interior has said, citing the 26,046 people born and 30,884 who died in the first two months of this year.
Last month, there were 13,536 births, or about one birth every 3.1 minutes, and 16,211 deaths, or one death every 2.6 minutes, statistics released on Tuesday showed.
The nation as of last month had 23.6 million people — up 10,899 people from a year earlier, but down 3,362 from January, the statistics showed.
Photo: Lee Jung-ping, Taipei Times
The nation has 11.7 million men — down 9,630 from a year earlier and down 2,986 from January — and 11.8 million women — up 20,529 from a year earlier, but down 376 from January, the data showed.
Overall, the nation has 98.33 men for every 100 women, the data showed.
Lienchiang County was the region with the highest ratio of men to women, with 134.20 men for every 100 women, followed by Chiayi County with 107.96 men for every 100 women and Yunlin County with 107.36 men for every 100 women.
The places with the lowest ratios of men to women were Taipei (90.92 men per 100 women), Chiayi City (94.01 men per 100 women) and New Taipei City (95.51 men per 100 women).
Hsinchu County had the greatest increase in population over the past year with a 1.29 percent growth rate, followed by Taoyuan with a 1.22 percent growth rate and Hsinchu City with a 0.68 percent growth rate, the statistics showed.
Taipei’s population fell 0.97 percent, while Taitung County’s declined 0.94 percent and Chiayi County’s dropped by 0.75 percent.
The statistics showed that 8.84 million households were registered, up 94,502 households from a year earlier and up 5,901 families from January.
New Taipei City was the region with the highest number of households registered at 1.58 million, or 17.94 percent of all households nationwide, followed by Kaohsiung with 1.11 million households (12.56 percent) and Taipei with 1.05 million (11.99 percent).
“It is premature to say that the nation is entering negative growth,” Department of Household Registration Affairs Director Wanda Chang (張琬宜) said. “The ministry would need more long-term data to back up such an assertion.”
For example, ministry statistics showed that the mortality rate and birthrate intersected from February to June last year before the birthrate once again overtook the mortality rate, and continued to do so into January.
The National Development Council previously predicted that the nation’s population would start to experience negative growth in the second half of this year.
The council also estimated that half of the nation’s population would be aged 50 or older by 2033, while 30 percent of the population would be 65 or older by 2039.
Additional reporting by CNA
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