Taiwan’s population falls for the first time

In 2020, the Taiwanese population dropped by 41,885. Number of newborns fell by 7.04 per cent. Deaths exceeded births by 7,097. In 2025 Taiwanese will be a super-old society. In East Asia, South Korea, China and Japan face the same problem.

Taipei (AsiaNews) – In 2020, Taiwan's population shrank for the first time on record, the Department of Household Registration reported. A low birthrate and an aging population are the main causes.

Taiwan’s population stood at 23,561,236 at the end of 2020, down by 0.18 per cent, or 41,885 people, from the previous year.

Births stood at 165,249 births, down by 7.04 per cent, 12,518 births lower than the previous year. Deaths also dropped to 173,156 deaths, but remained higher than births by 7,097.

According to a report by the National Development Council released in August 2020, Taiwan began to experience negative population growth in January last year after peaking at 23.6 million in 2019.

Taiwan will become a super-aged society by 2025, when one in five citizens will be over the age of 65, mainly due to the falling birth rate and rapidly aging population.

In East Asia, Taiwan is not alone in experiencing demographic problems. In 2020, South Korea also saw its population decline for the first time.

Its fertility rate is the lowest in the world at 0.84 in the third quarter of last year, a far cry from the 2.1 deemed necessary by the United Nations to maintain the population.

The birth rate hit an all-time low in China in 2019, a trend that was not reversed by the easing of its one-child policy.

According to the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the Chinese population of working age will begin to decline in 2027, which will have a major impact on seniors and pension plans.

In Japan, the negative trend started years ago. In 2018, the National Institute of Population and Social Security Research calculated that the country’s population would drop from 127 million to less than 100 million by 2049.

• taiwan
• china
• south korea
• japan
• demography
• population
• birthrate
• death rate
• decline
• demographic winter