Taiwan’s population last month declined for the 26th consecutive month, as births sank to a record low of 6,523, data released yesterday by the Ministry of the Interior showed.
Factoring in births, deaths and net migration, Taiwan’s population was 23,280,273 as of the end of last month, a month-on-month drop of 8,772 people.
Monthly births fell below 7,000 for the first time, down 3,884 year-on-year and 2,200 from January, for an annual crude birthrate of 3.65 per 1,000 people, the data showed.
Photo courtesy of the Hungchi Women and Children’s Hospital
Deaths totaled 14,881, a drop of 2,648 from January and 7,007 annually, while the number of people leaving Taiwan outstripped new arrivals by 414.
The number of people aged 65 and older totaled 4,707,676, or 20.22 percent of the population, meeting the UN’s definition of a “super-aged society,” in which people 65 and older account for more than 20 percent of the population.
Demographic data showed that people up to 14 years old accounted for 11.46 percent of the population (2,667,349), while those ages 15 to 64 accounted for 68.32 percent (15,905,248).
Taoyuan recorded the highest population growth rate at 0.6 percent, followed by Hsinchu County at 0.29 percent, while Taichung ranked third at 0.18 percent, the data showed.
Kinmen County recorded the largest drop at 2.5 percent, followed by Lienchiang County (Matsu) at 1.96 percent and Taipei at 1.87 percent.
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