Taiwan’s population last year shrank further and births continued to decline to a yearly low, the Ministry of the Interior announced today.
The ministry published the 2024 population demographics statistics, highlighting record lows in births and bringing attention to Taiwan’s aging population.
The nation’s population last year stood at 23,400,220, a decrease of 20,222 individuals compared to 2023.
Photo: Taipei Times file photo
Last year, there were 134,856 births, representing a crude birth rate of 5.76 per 1,000 people, a slight decline from 2023’s 135,571 births and 5.81 crude birth rate.
This decrease of 715 births resulted in a new record low per the ministry’s data.
Since 2016, which saw 208,440 new births, the annual figure has declined every year.
The result is that those under 14 represent only 11.72 percent of the total population with 2,742,386 people falling into that group.
Meanwhile, 69.1 percent of the population, 16,169,127 people, are 15–64 years old, and 19.18 percent, 4,488,707, are 65 and older.
Taiwan is soon to pass the threshold of a “super-aged society,” in which 20 percent of the population is 65 and above.
Projections from the National Development Council showed that Taiwan’s population will continue to decline from 23.4 million in 2024 to 14.97 million by 2070, with the percentage of elderly projected to increase to 46.5 percent by that year.
The country’s demographics are a serious problem, and the government is working hard on multifaceted efforts to help mitigate the issue, National Development Council Deputy Minister Kao Shien-quey (高仙桂) said.
The government said it is considering efforts to expand the scope of artificial reproduction subsidies, extending maternity leave allowance, promoting participation in the workforce and looking at potential uses of artificial intelligence to reduce manpower needs.
The government is also looking at ways to maintain fiscal stability as the number of taxpayers decreases while social welfare costs increase.
Even if the government reverses the current low birth rate, children will take 20 years to enter the labor force after their birth, meaning that the government has to address issues in parallel, Kao said.
AGING: While Japan has 22 submarines, Taiwan only operates four, two of which were commissioned by the US in 1945 and 1946, and transferred to Taiwan in 1973 Taiwan would need at least 12 submarines to reach modern fleet capabilities, CSBC Corp, Taiwan chairman Chen Cheng-hung (陳政宏) said in an interview broadcast on Friday, citing a US assessment. CSBC is testing the nation’s first indigenous defense submarine, the Hai Kun (海鯤, Narwhal), which is scheduled to be delivered to the navy next month or in July. The Hai Kun has completed torpedo-firing tests and is scheduled to undergo overnight sea trials, Chen said on an SET TV military affairs program. Taiwan would require at least 12 submarines to establish a modern submarine force after assessing the nation’s operational environment and defense
A white king snake that frightened passengers and caused a stir on a Taipei MRT train on Friday evening has been claimed by its owner, who would be fined, Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC) said yesterday. A person on Threads posted that he thought he was lucky to find an empty row of seats on Friday after boarding a train on the Bannan (Blue) Line, only to spot a white snake with black stripes after sitting down. Startled, he jumped up, he wrote, describing the encounter as “terrifying.” “Taipei’s rat control plan: Release snakes on the metro,” one person wrote in reply, referring
The coast guard today said that it had disrupted "illegal" operations by a Chinese research ship in waters close to the nation and driven it away, part of what Taipei sees a provocative pattern of China's stepped up maritime activities. The coast guard said that it on Thursday last week detected the Chinese ship Tongji (同濟號), which was commissioned only last year, 29 nautical miles (54km) southeast of the southern tip of Taiwan, although just outside restricted waters. The ship was observed lowering ropes into the water, suspected to be the deployment of scientific instruments for "illegal" survey operations, and the coast
An inauguration ceremony was held yesterday for the Danjiang Bridge, the world’s longest single-mast asymmetric cable-stayed bridge, ahead of its official opening to traffic on Tuesday, marking a major milestone after nearly three decades of planning and construction. At the ceremony in New Taipei City attended by President William Lai (賴清德), Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰), Minister of Transportation and Communications Chen Shih-kai (陳世凱) and New Taipei City Mayor Hou Yu-ih (侯友宜), the bridge was hailed as both an engineering landmark and a long-awaited regional transport link connecting Tamsui (淡水) and Bali (八里)
RSS