Taiwan’s population was 23,404,138 as of last month, down 2,470 from August, the ninth consecutive month this year that the nation has reported a drop, the Ministry of the Interior said on Wednesday.
The population last month was 162 fewer than the same month last year, a decline of 0.44 per day, the ministry said, citing household registration data.
Taiwan reported 11,792 births last month, or 3.7 births per day, up 149 from August, it said, adding that the monthly birthrate was 6.15 per 1,000 people.
Photo: CNA
The jurisdictions with the highest birthrates were Yunlin County at 14.62 per 1,000 people, Penghu County (8.61 per 1,000) and Taoyuan (7.74 per 1,000), the ministry said.
The jurisdictions with the lowest birthrates were Keelung (3.17 per 1,000), New Taipei City (3.95 per 1,000) and Chiayi City (4.13 per 1,000), it added.
There were 97,733 births from January to last month, down from 99,652 in the same period last year, showing that the Year of the Dragon this year has not sparked a baby boom as it has previously, the ministry said.
There were 15,563 deaths last month, or a mortality rate of 8.11 per 1,000 people, it said.
That works out to a death every 2.8 minutes, it added.
The administrative regions with the highest mortality rates were Chiayi County at 11.66 per 1,000 people, Pingtung County (10.99 per 1,000) and Yunlin County (10.96 per 1,000), it said.
The lowest mortality rates were in Lienchiang County (4.37 per 1,000), Hsinchu City (6.19 per 1,000) and Taoyuan (6.38 per 1,000), the ministry said.
Last month, 12,575 people obtained residency in Taiwan and 11,274 people renounced their residency, a net gain of 1,301, it said.
The figures for immigration and emigration were up 9,272 and 10,898 respectively compared with August, it added.
There were 10,710 marriages, 10,426 of which were heterosexual and 284 were same-sex last month, it said.
Divorces numbered 4,569, of which 4,479 were heterosexual and 90 were same-sex, it added.
There are 77 incidents of Taiwanese travelers going missing in China between January last year and last month, the Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) said. More than 40 remain unreachable, SEF Secretary-General Luo Wen-jia (羅文嘉) said on Friday. Most of the reachable people in the more than 30 other incidents were allegedly involved in fraud, while some had disappeared for personal reasons, Luo said. One of these people is Kuo Yu-hsuan (郭宇軒), a 22-year-old Taiwanese man from Kaohsiung who went missing while visiting China in August. China’s Taiwan Affairs Office last month said in a news statement that he was under investigation
‘JOINT SWORD’: Whatever President Lai says in his Double Ten speech, China would use it as a pretext to launch ‘punishment’ drills for his ‘separatist’ views, an official said China is likely to launch military drills this week near Taiwan, using President William Lai’s (賴清德) upcoming national day speech as a pretext to pressure the nation to accept its sovereignty claims, Taiwanese officials said. China in May launched “punishment” drills around Taiwan shortly after Lai’s inauguration, in what Beijing said was a response to “separatist acts,” sending heavily armed warplanes and staging mock attacks as state media denounced newly inaugurated Lai. The May drills were dubbed “Joint Sword — 2024A” and drew concerns from capitals, including Washington. Lai is to deliver a key speech on Thursday in front of the Presidential Office
An aviation jacket patch showing a Formosan black bear punching Winnie the Pooh has become popular overseas, including at an aviation festival held by the Japan Air Self-Defense Force at the Ashiya Airbase yesterday. The patch was designed last year by Taiwanese designer Hsu Fu-yu (徐福佑), who said that it was inspired by Taiwan’s countermeasures against frequent Chinese military aircraft incursions. The badge shows a Formosan black bear holding a Republic of China flag as it punches Winnie the Pooh — a reference to Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) — who is dressed in red and is holding a honey pot with
Celebrations marking Double Ten National Day are to begin in Taipei today before culminating in a fireworks display in Yunlin County on the night of Thursday next week. To start the celebrations, a concert is to be held at the Taipei Dome at 4pm today, featuring a lineup of award-winning singers, including Jody Chiang (江蕙), Samingad (紀曉君) and Huang Fei (黃妃), Taipei tourism bureau official Chueh Yu-ling (闕玉玲) told a news conference yesterday. School choirs, including the Pqwasan na Taoshan Choir and Hngzyang na Matui & Nahuy Children’s Choir, and the Ministry of National Defense Symphony Orchestra, flag presentation unit and choirs,