Population growth in Taiwan last year was once more in the green, up 155,802 compared with 2022 after declines since 2020, although the number of children born was down 3,415 from a year earlier, the Ministry of the Interior said yesterday.
Ministry data showed that residents in Taiwan rose to 23.42 million last year, an average daily increase of 426.85.
The figures combined natural population growth with immigration data, including migrant workers, the ministry said.
Photo: CNA
Natural population growth last year, or the number of births minus the mortality rate, was minus-69,797, the data showed.
Net immigration was 225,599, they showed.
There were 135,571 babies born last year, a new record low after year-on-year decreases for the past five years, the ministry said.
Deaths totaled 205,368, down 1,862 from 2022, it said.
There were 125,192 marriages last year, up 195 compared with 2022, a three-year high, while 53,085 couples filed for divorce, the data showed.
Separately, Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research vice president Wang Chien-chuan (王健全) said that a low birthrate affects the economy.
The government must formulate policies to address the issue, Wang said.
The National Development Council should formulate a population policy and work with other agencies to address issues such as immigration and migrant workers, social housing, transportation and high living expenses for young people, as well as introducing policies to grow industries and increase wages, he said.
Meanwhile, Mackay Memorial Hospital gynecologist Huang Chien-pei (黃建霈) said that while government policies to promote childbirth have had moderate success in work environments and childcare, low wages and high housing prices have not been dealt with effectively.
Not even the auspicious Year of the Dragon is likely to boost the population much, despite previous dragon years averaging a 10 percent increase in newborns, Huang said.
Subsidies for new parents in Taiwan are not as high as those in some other countries, he said, adding that tax breaks or lower mortgage rates would be a significant incentive for people to have more children.
Health Promotion Administration Director-General Wu Chao-chun (吳昭軍) said that his agency has mulled amendments to the Assisted Reproduction Act (人工生殖法).
Legalizing same-sex marriage in Taiwan has led to discussion of same-sex couples seeking to have children, while others who want to remain single have also begun looking into the possibility of having children through assisted reproduction, he said.
Tropical Storm Usagi strengthened to a typhoon yesterday morning and remains on track to brush past southeastern Taiwan from tomorrow to Sunday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was approximately 950km east-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost point, the CWA said. It is expected to enter the Bashi Channel and then turn north, moving into waters southeast of Taiwan, it said. The agency said it could issue a sea warning in the early hours of today and a land warning in the afternoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was moving at
DISCONTENT: The CCP finds positive content about the lives of the Chinese living in Taiwan threatening, as such video could upset people in China, an expert said Chinese spouses of Taiwanese who make videos about their lives in Taiwan have been facing online threats from people in China, a source said yesterday. Some young Chinese spouses of Taiwanese make videos about their lives in Taiwan, often speaking favorably about their living conditions in the nation compared with those in China, the source said. However, the videos have caught the attention of Chinese officials, causing the spouses to come under attack by Beijing’s cyberarmy, they said. “People have been messing with the YouTube channels of these Chinese spouses and have been harassing their family members back in China,”
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said there are four weather systems in the western Pacific, with one likely to strengthen into a tropical storm and pose a threat to Taiwan. The nascent tropical storm would be named Usagi and would be the fourth storm in the western Pacific at the moment, along with Typhoon Yinxing and tropical storms Toraji and Manyi, the CWA said. It would be the first time that four tropical cyclones exist simultaneously in November, it added. Records from the meteorology agency showed that three tropical cyclones existed concurrently in January in 1968, 1991 and 1992.
UPDATED FORECAST: The warning covered areas of Pingtung County and Hengchun Peninsula, while a sea warning covering the southern Taiwan Strait was amended The Central Weather Administration (CWA) at 5:30pm yesterday issued a land warning for Typhoon Usagi as the storm approached Taiwan from the south after passing over the Philippines. As of 5pm, Usagi was 420km south-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost tip, with an average radius of 150km, the CWA said. The land warning covered areas of Pingtung County and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春), and came with an amended sea warning, updating a warning issued yesterday morning to cover the southern part of the Taiwan Strait. No local governments had announced any class or office closures as of press time last night. The typhoon
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