Taiwan’s population last year fell 0.47 percent, posting the third consecutive year of decline as the number of births fell to a record low and the number of deaths reached an all-time high, Ministry of the Interior data showed yesterday.
The nation’s population stood at 23,264,640 as of the end of last year, down 110,674 people from 2021.
The number of births last year dropped to 138,986, down 14,834 from 2021’s 153,820.
Photo: Hung Mei-hsiu, Taipei Times
Last year’s figure represents a crude birthrate of 5.96 births per 1,000 people, down from 6.55 in 2021. It was the first time the rate fell below 6 since 1975, when records began.
The number of deaths last year reached a record 207,230, up 23,498 from 183,732 in 2021. It was the third consecutive year that the number of deaths outpaced births, the ministry said.
The figure translates into a crude death rate of 8.89 deaths per 1,000 people, the highest on record. It is also the first time the number of deaths in Taiwan exceeded 200,000 in a year.
The nation last month recorded 12,178 births, down 1,949 from a year earlier and 170 from the previous month.
The ministry recorded 17,685 deaths last month, up 1,946 from a year earlier, but down 34 from the previous month.
A total of 119,679 people received a household registration last month, increasing by 38,685 from a year earlier and 30,001 from the previous month, while 83,125 people left the country, resulting in a net immigration figure of 36,554, the ministry said.
Last year, 1,086,712 people were added to household registration records, while 1,129,142 people were removed, resulting in 42,430 fewer people registered as new residents than people who left Taiwan last year.
However, the number of marriages last year rose to the highest in three years as 124,997 couples married, compared with 121,702 in 2020 and 114,606 in 2021.
Meanwhile, 50,609 couples got divorced last year, representing 2.17 divorces per 1,000 people, the ministry said.
Greenpeace yesterday said that it is to appeal a decision last month by the Taipei High Administrative Court to dismiss its 2021 lawsuit against the Ministry of Economic Affairs over “loose” regulations governing major corporate electricity consumers. The climate-related lawsuit — the first of its kind in Taiwan — sought to require the government to enforce higher green energy thresholds on major corporations to reduce emissions in light of climate change and an uptick in extreme weather. The suit, filed by Greenpeace East Asia, the Environmental Jurists Association and four individual plaintiffs, was dismissed on May 8 following four years of litigation. The
A former officer in China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) who witnessed the aftermath of the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre has warned that Taiwan could face a similar fate if China attempts to unify the country by force. Li Xiaoming (李曉明), who was deployed to Beijing as a junior officer during the crackdown, said Taiwanese people should study the massacre carefully, because it offers a glimpse of what Beijing is willing to do to suppress dissent. “What happened in Tiananmen Square could happen in Taiwan too,” Li told CNA in a May 22 interview, ahead of the massacre’s 36th anniversary. “If Taiwanese students or
DIPLOMACY: It is Guatemalan President Bernardo Arevalo’s first visit to Taiwan since he took office last year, while Eswatini’s foreign minister is also paying a visit A delegation led by Guatemalan President Bernardo Arevalo arrived in Taiwan yesterday afternoon and is to visit President William Lai (賴清德) today. The delegation arrived at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport at 4:55pm, and was greeted by Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍). It is Arevalo’s first trip to Taiwan since he took office last year, and following the visit, he is to travel to Japan to celebrate the 90th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two countries. Arevalo said at the airport that he is very glad to make the visit to Taiwan, adding that he brings an important message of responsibility
About 3,000 people gathered at events in Taipei yesterday for an annual candlelight vigil commemorating the 1989 Tiananmen Square Massacre, a brutal crackdown by Chinese authorities on a student-led demonstration in Beijing on June 4 36 years ago. A candlelight vigil organized by the New School for Democracy and other human rights groups began at 7pm on Democracy Boulevard outside Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall, with the theme "Resist Transnational Repression, Defy Totalitarianism." At about 8pm, organizers announced that about 3,000 people had attended the event, which featured brief speeches by human rights advocates from Taiwan and China, including Hong Kong, as well