Population Aged 65 and Over Grows by About 50% in Eight Years
Due to the impact of low birth rates, Taiwan's labor force is expected to decrease by 200,000 people annually.
On the 23rd, Taiwanese media including Liberty Times cited a population projection report from Taiwan's National Development Council (NDC), explaining that "around this year, Taiwan will enter a super-aged society where those aged 65 and over account for more than 20% of the total population."
According to the report, the number of newborns last year was 134,856, marking a decline for nine consecutive years since 2016 (208,440). It is projected to fall below 100,000 after 2040.
In particular, as the legal retirement age (65) approaches for the largest population group in Taiwan, those in their 50s and 60s, the working-age population aged 15 to 64 is estimated to decrease to 13.17 million around 2040. This represents a decrease of about 3 million from the 16.17 million working-age population last year, and the working-age population is expected to decline by approximately 200,000 annually on average going forward.
On the other hand, the elderly population aged 65 and over exceeded 3 million around 2016 and reached 4.5 million by the end of last year, an increase of about 50% over the past eight years. However, during the same period, the labor force participation rate of the elderly population increased only by 1.3%, from 8.6% in 2016 to 9.9% at the end of last year.
Additionally, Taiwan's total fertility rate (the expected number of children a woman will have in her lifetime) fell from 0.87 in 2023 to 0.86 last year.
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