Taiwan’s population shrank by 0.99 percent — or more than 230,000 people — year-on-year in September, according to statistics released by the Ministry of the Interior.
Taiwan’s population as of the end of September was 23,198,133, down 232,815 people compared to 23,430,948 recorded in the same month last year, the figures showed.
The loss was much bigger than the 0.58 percent decline — or 137,430 fewer people — seen in September 2021, compared to the same month in 2020.
It was also far greater than the population drop of 25,405, or 0.11 percent seen in September 2020, compared to the same month in 2019, according to the statistics.
In January 2022, officials at the Interior Ministry and the National Development Council attributed Taiwan’s population decline in 2021 to a decline in the number of immigrants and people returning to the nation as a result of strict border controls amid COVID-19 outbreaks.
Some of the decline may have resulted because of bookkeeping factors rather than the actual movement of people.
Household registration in Taiwan
The ministry in the past has noted that local household registration offices are required to record people as having left the country if immigration records show they have not been in the country for two years.
With COVID-19 border controls in place, people have not returned to Taiwan to keep their household registrations valid, resulting in declining population numbers.
Others factors in the decline have been Taiwan’s low birth rate and high mortality rate due to a rapidly aging population, according to the ministry.
Those factors have contributed to a negative population growth rate since February 2020.
Increases month-on-month
In terms of month-on-month comparisons with August, Taiwan’s population as of the end of September grew 3,579 from the previous month, the third straight month that it has grown, according to the statistics.
Taiwan recorded 12,217 births in September, down 1,247 from the same period last year but up 315 from August, the data showed.
Meanwhile, 16,505 people died in September, an increase of 2,611 compared to the same period last year but down 1,325 from August, it showed.
At the same time, the number of immigrants in September was 95,826, an increase of 2,739 compared to the same month last year, but down 3,820 from August, the statistics showed.
A total of 87,959 residents were recorded as moving overseas in September, a decrease of 25,587 compared to the same period last year and a drop of 1,269 compared to August, the figures showed, indicating perhaps that fewer people were being stricken from the household registration rolls.
Overall, Taiwan had 7,867 more people registered as immigrants newly living in Taiwan than emigrants leaving Taiwan in September, according to the figures.
Marriages, divorces
In terms of the number of marriages, 11,546 couples got married in September, the second highest number recorded so far this year, compared to 4,315 in August, the lowest number this year, the data showed.
Of the new marriages in September, 11,350 were between heterosexual couples, while 196 were between same-sex couples, it showed.
Meanwhile, 4,335 couples got divorced in September, of which 4,286 were heterosexual and 49 were same-sex, according to the data.
Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel