Taoyuan registered the largest population growth last year among the nation’s six special municipalities, data released yesterday by the Ministry of the Interior showed.
Taoyuan’s population reached 2,268,807 people by the end of last year, up 0.875 percent from 2019, followed by 4,030,954 people in New Taipei City, up 0.305 percent from 2019, the data showed.
Observers attributed the higher growth in Taoyuan and New Taipei City to their proximity to Taipei.
Many people take advantage of relatively affordable housing in Taoyuan and New Taipei City, commuting to their workplace in Taipei, they added.
Taichung’s population reached 2,820,787 people, up 0.196 percent, the third-largest growth of the six, the data showed.
New Taipei City registered the largest population among the six, accounting for 17.11 percent of the nation’s population, followed by Taichung (2,820,787 people), Kaohsiung (2,765,932), Taipei (2,602,418), Taoyuan (2,268,807) and Tainan (1,874,917), the data showed.
Taipei’s population last year fell 1.625 percent from 2019.
The decline in Taipei largely resulted from a population outflow of 44,440 people during the year, the ministry said.
However, Taipei’s natural population growth — the difference between the number of births and deaths — totaled 1,817 people, the ministry added.
The special municipalities accounted for almost 70 percent of the total population in Taiwan at the end of last year, the data showed.
Outside the special municipalities, Lienchiang County’s population grew 1.441 percent annually, followed by Hsinchu County (1.206 percent) and Penghu County (0.706 percent), the ministry said.
At a total of 23,561,236 people, last year was the first time that Taiwan reported a decline in population, down 41,885 people from 2019, the ministry said.
The drop reflected a decline in the nation’s natural population growth, it said, adding that the COVID-19 pandemic lowered the number of those moving from overseas to Taiwan by 33,978 people.
Last year, Taiwan registered 165,249 births, down 12,518 from 2019, it said.
Taiwan’s population topped 20 million for the first time at the end of 1989, and hit a peak of 23.60 million people at the end of 2018, the data showed.
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