Taiwan is expected to replace South Korea as the country with the lowest birthrate by 2035, population projections by the National Development Council showed.
The nation’s birthrate is expected to be the lowest in the world with 1.12 births per woman in 2035, when South Korea’s birthrate is expected to be 1.18, data released by the council showed.
Taiwan previously had the lowest birthrate in the world when the number fell to 0.9 births per woman in 2015, but the figure increased slightly to 0.99 in 2020, topping South Korea’s 0.84, the data showed.
Photo: CNA
Japan became a super-aged society in 2005, while Taiwan and South Korea are expected to follow suit by 2025, but they have been forecast to age faster than Japan.
According to the WHO, nations where at least 7 percent of the population are 65 or older are considered an aging society, those with an elderly population of at least 14 percent are considered an aged society and those with an elderly population of at least 20 percent are deemed a super-aged society.
It took Western countries such as the US, the UK, Germany and France 46 to 126 years to progress from an aging society to an aged society, and another 15 to 51 years to move from an aged society to a super-aged society, the data showed.
In comparison, the transitions in Taiwan, South Korea, Hong Kong and Singapore — the four Asian Tigers — happened faster, with Taiwan and South Korea expected to progress from an aged to super-aged society in seven years, and Hong Kong and Singapore in nine years, the data showed.
The Asian Tigers’ economies took off between 1960 and 1990, which could be attributed to their export-oriented trading strategies, the international division of labor and the demographic dividend, which occurs when the working population aged 15 to 64 accounts for more than two-thirds of the overall population, the council said.
However, the demographic dividend period for the Asian Tigers would end in a decade, while their dependency ratios would continue to climb.
For instance, Taiwan’s working-age population is expected to make up 68.1 percent of the total population by 2025, while the figure in South Korea is expected to be 69.2 percent, the council said.
The demographic dividend is forecast to end in 2030 in both nations, with the working-age population dropping to 65.3 percent of the total population in Taiwan and 66 percent in South Korea.
As Taiwan continues to age faster, the working-age population is expected to make up less than 50 percent of the total population in 2060, meaning that the number of people who support the nation’s economy and pay taxes would be fewer than those who are dependent on them, the council said.
The figure is expected to be higher than South Korea’s 48.5 percent, but lower than Japan’s 51.6 percent, the US’ 60 percent, the UK’s 59 percent and Germany’s 57.2 percent.
As for the aging index, which measures the number of people aged 65 or older per 100 people younger than 15, Taiwan’s and South Korea’s figures are predicted to climb to 408 percent and 456.2 percent respectively by 2050, which would be among the highest in the world, the council said.
‘LAGGING BEHIND’: The NATO secretary-general called on democratic allies to be ‘clear-eyed’ about Beijing’s military buildup, urging them to boost military spending NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte mentioning China’s bullying of Taiwan and its ambition to reshape the global order has significance during a time when authoritarian states are continuously increasing their aggression, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said yesterday. In a speech at the Carnegie Europe think tank in Brussels on Thursday, Rutte said Beijing is bullying Taiwan and would start to “nibble” at Taiwan if Russia benefits from a post-invasion peace deal with Ukraine. He called on democratic allies to boost defense investments and also urged NATO members to increase defense spending in the face of growing military threats from Russia
LEAP FORWARD: The new tanks are ‘decades more advanced than’ the army’s current fleet and would enable it to compete with China’s tanks, a source said A shipment of 38 US-made M1A2T Abrams tanks — part of a military procurement package from the US — arrived at the Port of Taipei early yesterday. The vehicles are the first batch of 108 tanks and other items that then-US president Donald Trump announced for Taiwan in 2019. The Ministry of National Defense at the time allocated NT$40.5 billion (US$1.25 billion) for the purchase. To accommodate the arrival of the tanks, the port suspended the use of all terminals and storage area machinery from 6pm last night until 7am this morning. The tanks are expected to be deployed at the army’s training
TECH CONFERENCE: Input from industry and academic experts can contribute to future policymaking across government agencies, President William Lai said Multifunctional service robots could be the next new area in which Taiwan could play a significant role, given its strengths in chip manufacturing and software design, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) chairman and chief executive C.C. Wei (魏哲家) said yesterday. “In the past two months, our customers shared a lot of their future plans with me. Artificial intelligence [AI] and AI applications were the most talked about subjects in our conversation,” Wei said in a speech at the National Science and Technology Conference in Taipei. TSMC, the world’s biggest contract chipmaker, counts Nvidia Corp, Advanced Micro Devices Inc, Apple Inc and
PEACEFUL RESOLUTION: A statement issued following a meeting between Australia and Britain reiterated support for Taiwan and opposition to change in the Taiwan Strait Canada should support the peaceful resolution of Taiwan’s destiny according to the will of Taiwanese, Canadian lawmakers said in a resolution marking the second anniversary of that nation’s Indo-Pacific strategy on Monday. The Canadian House of Commons committee on Canada-Chinese relations made the comment as part of 34 recommendations for the new edition of the strategy, adding that Ottawa should back Taiwan’s meaningful participation in international organizations. Canada’s Indo-Pacific Strategy, first published in October 2022, emphasized that the region’s security, trade, human rights, democracy and environmental protection would play a crucial role in shaping Canada’s future. The strategy called for Canada to deepen
RSS