TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwan’s population shrank for the 26th consecutive month, with February births hitting a record low, according to the Ministry of the Interior.
February household registration data shows the total population at 23,280,273, down 104,341 from last year, per CNA. Compared to January, the population fell by 8,772.
Only 6,523 babies were born in February, the first month on record that was below 7,000, a drop of 25.2% from January. This equates to one birth every 6.2 minutes, with a crude birth rate of 3.65 per thousand.
Penghu County had the highest crude birth rate at 5.62 per thousand, followed by Taitung County and Hualien County. The lowest was Keelung at 2.54 per thousand, trailing Tainan and Lienchiang County.
Taoyuan saw the largest population increase at 0.6%, with Hsinchu County and Taichung next. Kinmen County had the largest population decrease at 2.5%, followed by Lienchiang County and Taipei.
February recorded 14,881 deaths, averaging one every 2.7 minutes, with a crude mortality rate of 8.33 per thousand. This was 7,007 fewer than last year and 2,648 fewer than January.
The number of immigrants in February was 56,116, a decrease of 14,926 from January. The number of emigrants was 56,530, a decrease of 15,793 from January.
Subtracting deaths from births yields the natural increase, which was negative 8,358 in February. Net migration, the number of immigrants minus the number of emigrants, was negative 414 in February.
As of the end of February, Taiwan's population aged 0 to 14 was 2,667,349, accounting for 11.46% of the total population. The population aged 15 to 64 was 15,905,248, accounting for 68.32%.
The population aged 65 and above was 4,707,676, accounting for 20.22%. Compared to January, the proportions of the population aged 0 to 14 and 15 to 64 both decreased slightly, while the proportion of the elderly population aged 65 and above increased by 0.07 percentage points.
According to the World Health Organization, a population with 7% aged 65+ is considered an aging society, 14% is an aged society, and 20% is a super-aged society. Last year, Taiwan became a super-aged society.
