Four counties and cities are already super-aged, and Taipei has the oldest population among the six special municipalities, Ministry of the Interior statistics showed.
The UN defines a society as “aging” when 7 percent of its population is older than 65. When that age group accounts for 14 percent of a society, it is called an “aged society,” and when it reaches 20 percent, it is called a “super-aged society.” Nationwide, 17.56 percent of Taiwanese are over 65.
The National Development Council has predicted for years that Taiwan would become a super-aged society by 2025, but four counties and cities have already reached that threshold, ministry figures showed.
Elderly people account for 21.69 percent of Chiayi County’s population, while adults over 65 make up 20.91 percent of the population of Taipei, 20.13 percent of Nantou County and 20.12 percent of Yunlin County.
Among the six special municipalities, Taipei has the highest ratio of people over 65, followed by Kaohsiung at 18.33 percent, Tainan at 18.03 percent, New Taipei City at 17.05 percent, Taichung at 15.08 and Taoyuan at 14.28 percent.
However, in terms of the number of elderly residents, New Taipei City has the most at 680,000, followed by Taipei at 510,000.
The statistics showed that the youngest counties and cities to be Hsinchu County, with elderly residents making up 13.64 percent of the population, followed by Lienchiang County with 14 percent, Hsinchu City with 14.16 percent and Taoyuan with 14.28 percent.
However, according to the international definition, even the youngest counties and cities in Taiwan have become aging societies.
Meanwhile, the percentage of the population aged six or younger is 6.82 percent in Hsinchu County, 6.71 percent in Hsinchu City, 6.3 percent in Taoyuan, 5.85 percent in Taichung, 5.47 percent in 4.13 percent in Kinmen County, 4.09 percent in Keelung and 3.69 percent in Changhua County.
SELF-RELIANCE: Taiwan would struggle to receive aid in the event of an invasion, so it must prepare to ‘hold its own’ for the first 70 days of a war, a defense expert said Taiwan should strengthen infrastructure, stock up on reserves and step up efforts to encourage Taiwanese to fight against an enemy, legislators and experts said on Tuesday last week. The comments sought to summarize what the nation should learn from the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which has exceeded 300 days, since Feb. 24 last year. Institute of National Defense and Security Research fellow Su Tzu-yun (蘇紫雲) said that the war in Ukraine highlighted the importance of being ready for war. Taiwan’s development of an “asymmetrical warfare” doctrine and extending mandatory conscription to one year is a good start to preparation of defense against a
The Tourism Bureau plans to offer incentives to attract international tourists as the nation plans to gradually lift all travel restrictions to contain COVID-19, Minister of Transportation and Communications Wang Kwo-tsai (王國材) said yesterday. The incentives would be funded by surplus national tax revenue from last year, Wang said. The funding could be appropriated after the legislature passes draft special statutes governing the use of the surplus tax revenue in the upcoming legislative session, he said. Of the NT$450 billion (US$14.97 billion) in surplus tax revenue, the government plans to spend NT$100 billion on seven categories of projects to bolster Taiwan’s
The Central Epidemic Command Center yesterday said it would delay the lifting of the indoor mask mandate, citing public health considerations and ongoing discussions on how the policy should be implemented. Earlier this week, Centers for Disease Control Deputy Director-General Chuang Jen-hsiang (莊人祥), who is the CECC’s spokesman, said officials from several ministries were working on the policy and an announcement would be made yesterday. However, Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Victor Wang (王必勝), who heads the CECC, yesterday said that the policy was still under review. Wang said its implementation would be “delayed slightly” due to three main factors. First, the center
Retired US admiral Philip Davidson, who in 2021 warned of a potential Chinese conflict with Taiwan by 2027, is in Taiwan to discuss regional security-related issues. He was the head of the US Indo-Pacific Command at the time. Davidson is part of a six-member delegation from US-based think tank the National Bureau of Asian Research that arrived in Taiwan on Monday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said yesterday. The group is scheduled to meet with President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), and visit two government-funded non-governmental organizations — the Institute for National Defense and Security Research and Taiwan Foundation for Democracy — to exchange