TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taipei’s population has dropped below 2.5 million in a downward trend that some blame on the pandemic and staggeringly high housing prices.

The capital of Taiwan registered a population of 2.47 million in October 2022, down from 2.54 million in the same month of 2021 and 2.61 million in 2020, according to data from the Ministry of the Interior.

Charlene Chang (張旭嵐) of Taiwan Realty Enterprise attributed the drop in Taipei’s population to “four waves.”

The nationwide tendency for people to shy away from marriage and having children has resulted in shrinking populations in most municipalities of the country, and Taipei youths are moving to neighboring New Taipei and Taoyuan due to unaffordable housing in the city center.

In addition, COVID has triggered a wave of Taipei residents returning to their home cities or counties thanks to the rise of remote work. Meanwhile, expatriates who have failed to re-enter Taiwan amid the pandemic have been removed from their registered households, which has also contributed to the population decline, Liberty Times quoted her as saying.

A report on Taiwan’s property market suggested that between 2016 and 2021, a residential property in Taipei cost an average of NT$589,000 (US$18,990) per ping (3.3 square meters). Comparatively, buyers spent NT$310,000 per ping in New Taipei, NT$191,000 in Taoyuan, NT$180,000 in Kaohsiung, and NT$157,000 in Tainan.