Taiwan’s population last year grew at its slowest pace in recorded history, rising only slightly to reach 23.571 million people, the Ministry of the Interior said yesterday.
The number of people with household registrations in Taiwan rose by 31,000 from the end of 2016 to the end of last year, a 0.133 percent increase, ministry data showed.
The nation’s population growth, like that of most developed countries, has been on the decline, and the drop has been especially noticeable in recent years. Taiwan now has one of the lowest birth rates in the world.
In 1951, the annual population growth rate was 4.168 percent, but by 1984 it had dropped to 1.483 percent.
The National Development Council said Taiwan’s population is to peak at 23.741 million in 2024, after which it is to stop growing and begin to decline.
Previous studies by the council found that once Taiwan becomes a “super-aged” society by 2026, the population would fall drastically to between 17.07 million and 19.49 million by 2061.
Meanwhile, the ministry’s data showed that nearly 70 percent of Taiwanese reside in the six special municipalities.
New Taipei City remained Taiwan’s most populous city, with 3.98 million registered residents, followed by Taichung with 2.78 million and Kaohsiung with 2.77 million.
While Taoyuan ranked fifth among the six special municipalities by number of registered residents with 2.18 million, it witnessed the steepest population growth last year, with an increase of 1.857 percent.
However, Taipei, with a population of 2.68 million, registered a 0.462 percent decline in population last year.
The National Immigration Agency (NIA) said yesterday that it will revoke the dependent-based residence permit of a Chinese social media influencer who reportedly “openly advocated for [China’s] unification through military force” with Taiwan. The Chinese national, identified by her surname Liu (劉), will have her residence permit revoked in accordance with Article 14 of the “Measures for the permission of family- based residence, long-term residence and settlement of people from the Mainland Area in the Taiwan Area,” the NIA said in a news release. The agency explained it received reports that Liu made “unifying Taiwan through military force” statements on her online
A magnitude 5.7 earthquake struck off Taitung County at 1:09pm today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The hypocenter was 53km northeast of Taitung County Hall at a depth of 12.5km, CWA data showed. The intensity of the quake, which gauges the actual effect of a seismic event, measured 4 in Taitung County and Hualien County on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale, the data showed. The quake had an intensity of 3 in Nantou County, Chiayi County, Yunlin County, Kaohsiung and Tainan, the data showed. There were no immediate reports of damage following the quake.
Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) is to begin his one-year alternative military service tomorrow amid ongoing legal issues, the Ministry of the Interior said yesterday. Wang, who last month was released on bail of NT$150,000 (US$4,561) as he faces charges of allegedly attempting to evade military service and forging documents, has been ordered to report to Taipei Railway Station at 9am tomorrow, the Alternative Military Service Training and Management Center said. The 33-year-old would join about 1,300 other conscripts in the 263rd cohort of general alternative service for training at the Chenggong Ling camp in Taichung, a center official told reporters. Wang would first
MINOR DISRUPTION: The outage affected check-in and security screening, while passport control was done manually and runway operations continued unaffected The main departure hall and other parts of Terminal 2 at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport lost power on Tuesday, causing confusion among passengers before electricity was fully restored more than an hour later. The outage, the cause of which is still being investigated, began at about midday and affected parts of Terminal 2, including the check-in gates, the security screening area and some duty-free shops. Parts of the terminal immediately activated backup power sources, while others remained dark until power was restored in some of the affected areas starting at 12:23pm. Power was fully restored at 1:13pm. Taoyuan International Airport Corp said in a