Taiwan records smallest number of marriages in over 10 years in 2020

Taipei, Jan. 9 (CNA) The number of marriages in Taiwan dropped in 2020 to a low over one decade, while the country's population declined for the first time in recorded history, the Ministry of the Interior (MOI) said Saturday .

MOI data showed 121,702 new registered marriages in 2020, a decline of 12,822 from the previous year and the lowest number since 2009, when 116,392 were recorded amid a global financial crisis.

The crude marriage rate for 2020 showed a drop to 0.00516 percent, the lowest since 2009, when it was 0.0054 percent, according to the data.

The United Nations defines the crude marriage rate as the ratio of the number of marriages in a population during a reference period over the person-years lived by the population during the same period.

Of the 121,702 new marriages registered last year, 2,387 were between same-sex couples, a slight decline from 2019, when Taiwan legalized gay marriage and the number was 2,939 -- 928 between men and 2,011 between women, according to the MOI.

In 2020, the ministry said, 674 same-sex marriages were between men and 1,713 between women.

Last year, the total number of divorces was 51,680, down 2,793 from a year earlier, with 371 recorded among same sex couples, while the crude divorce rate in that category of marriage was 0.00219 percent. the data showed.

Meanwhile, on Friday, the MOI said Taiwan's population fell in 2020 for the first time in its recorded history to 23,561,236, a decline of 0.18 percent, or 41,885 people.

One of the main contributing factors was a sharp drop in the country's fertility rate, with 165,249 births recorded, 7.04 percent lower than the previous year, the ministry said.