The nation’s population declined last month to 23,355,470 from 23,365,274 in April, the 17th consecutive month the population has shrunk, based on household registration data released by the Ministry of the Interior.
The number of newborn babies was 8,433 last month, which was also a historic single-month low, ministry data showed.
The population was down 58,138 compared with the same month last year, with an average daily decrease of 159.28 people.
Photo courtesy of Lee Women’s Hospital
Yilan County, Taoyuan and Hsinchu County were the nation’s top three regions with high population increases, while the lowest population increase rates were in Kinmen County, Lienchiang County (Matsu) and Taipei.
From January to last month, 46,407 babies were born: 9,495 in January, 10,407 in February, 9,388 in March, 8,684 in April and 8,433 last month, the data showed.
One baby was born approximately every 5.3 minutes, corresponding to a crude birthrate of 4.25 per 1,000 annually. The number of births decreased by 2,735 compared with May last year and dropped by 251 compared with April.
Matsu, Yunlin and Changhua were the top three counties with the highest crude birthrates, while the lowest crude birthrates were reported in Chiayi County, Keelung and New Taipei City.
The government recorded 15,382 deaths last month, with one person dying every 2.9 minutes on average, corresponding to a crude death rate of 7.75 per 1,000 annually.
The number of deaths fell by 1,034 compared with May last year and decreased by 1,823 compared with April.
The highest crude death rates were reported in Chiayi, Nantou and Yunlin counties, while Taoyuan, New Taipei City and Hsinchu City reported the lowest.
A total of 12,791 couples married last month — 12,359 heterosexual couples and 432 same-sex couples. The crude marriage rate was approximately 6.45 per 1,000.
Meanwhile, 4,532 couples filed for divorce: 4,456 heterosexual couples and 76 same-sex couples. The crude divorce rate was 2.28 per 1,000.
Last month, the number of registered households with people moving to a new region was 121,014, an increase of 49,899 from April. The number of people moving out of a region was 123,869, also an increase of 49,899 from April. Net migration was minus-2,855.
By city or county, Taoyuan had the highest net in-migration with 2,491 people, followed by New Taipei City with 2,364 people, and Taichung with 2,036 people.
A magnitude 6.4 earthquake struck off the coast of Hualien County in eastern Taiwan at 7pm yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The epicenter of the temblor was at sea, about 69.9km south of Hualien County Hall, at a depth of 30.9km, it said. There were no immediate reports of damage resulting from the quake. The earthquake’s intensity, which gauges the actual effect of a temblor, was highest in Taitung County’s Changbin Township (長濱), where it measured 5 on Taiwan’s seven-tier intensity scale. The quake also measured an intensity of 4 in Hualien, Nantou, Chiayi, Yunlin, Changhua and Miaoli counties, as well as
Credit departments of farmers’ and fishers’ associations blocked a total of more than NT$180 million (US$6.01 million) from being lost to scams last year, National Police Agency (NPA) data showed. The Agricultural Finance Agency (AFA) said last week that staff of farmers’ and fishers’ associations’ credit departments are required to implement fraud prevention measures when they serve clients at the counter. They would ask clients about personal financial management activities whenever they suspect there might be a fraud situation, and would immediately report the incident to local authorities, which would send police officers to the site to help, it said. NPA data showed
ENERGY RESILIENCE: Although Alaska is open for investments, Taiwan is sourcing its gas from the Middle East, and the sea routes carry risks, Ho Cheng-hui said US government officials’ high-profile reception of a Taiwanese representative at the Alaska Sustainable Energy Conference indicated the emergence of an Indo-Pacific energy resilience alliance, an academic said. Presidential Office Secretary-General Pan Men-an (潘孟安) attended the conference in Alaska on Thursday last week at the invitation of the US government. Pan visited oil and gas facilities with senior US officials, including US Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum, US Secretary of Energy Chris Wright, Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy and US Senator Daniel Sullivan. Pan attending the conference on behalf of President William Lai (賴清德) shows a significant elevation in diplomatic representation,
The Taipei MRT is to begin accepting mobile payment services in the fall, Taipei Rapid Transit Corp said on Saturday. When the company finishes the installation of new payment units at ticketing gates in October, MRT passengers can use credit cards, Apple Pay, Google Pay and Samsung Pay, the operator said. In addition, the MRT would also provide QR payment codes — which would be compatible with Line Pay, Jkopay, iPass Money, PXPay Plus, EasyWallet, iCash Pay, Taiwan Pay and Taishin Pay — to access the railway system. Currently, passengers can access the Taipei MRT by buying a single-journey token or using EasyCard,