Taiwan monthly births hit record low as population decline continues

Taipei, March 10 (CNA) Taiwan's population declined for the 26th consecutive month in February, as births sank to a record low of 6,523.

Factoring in births, deaths and net migration, Taiwan's population stood at 23,280,273 as of the end of February, a month-over-month drop of 8,772 people, according to data released by the Ministry of the Interior (MOI) on Tuesday.

Monthly births fell below 7,000 for the first time on record, down 3,884 year over year and 2,200 from January, for an annual crude birth rate of 3.65 per 1,000 people.

Deaths totaled 14,881, a drop of 2,648 from January and 7,007 year over year, while the number of people leaving Taiwan outstripped new arrivals by 414.

The number of people aged 65 and older totaled 4,707,676, or 20.22 percent of the population, meeting the United Nations' definition of a "super-aged society," in which people 65 and older account for more than 20 percent of the population.

Demographic data showed that people ages 0 to 14 accounted for 11.46 percent of the population (2,667,349), while those ages 15 to 64 accounted for 68.32 percent (15,905,248).

Among local governments, Taoyuan City recorded the highest population growth rate at 0.6 percent, followed by Hsinchu County at 0.29 percent, while Taichung City ranked third at 0.18 percent.

Kinmen County recorded the largest drop at 2.5 percent, followed by Lienchiang County (Matsu) at 1.96 percent and Taipei at 1.87 percent.