Taiwan Population Falls for 34th Month as Deaths Outnumber Births by More Than Two to One

October population falls to 23.204 million

Taiwan recorded 8,035 births and 17,393 deaths in October 2026, leaving a natural population decline of 9,358 people, according to Ministry of the Interior figures released on November 10. A small gain from migration reduced the total monthly loss to 9,251, extending the population's decline to 34 consecutive months.

The population stood at about 23,204,000 at the end of October, down 106,853, or 0.46%, from a year earlier. That annual loss amounts to an average of about 293 people a day.

Residents aged 65 and older numbered 4,823,709, accounting for 20.79% of the population. Taiwan therefore meets the threshold for a super-aged society, meaning at least one person in five is 65 or older. Its older population was about 1.86 times the number of children aged 14 and younger.

October's figures show several changes happening together: fewer births than a year earlier, more deaths, and a growing number of households despite a shrinking population. The balance between generations also varied widely by location, with older residents making up almost a quarter of Taipei's population.

How births, deaths and migration add up

The ministry's population figures can be understood through two balances. Natural change is births minus deaths. Migration change is the number of people registered as moving in minus those registered as moving out.

October's 8,035 births minus 17,393 deaths produced a natural decrease of 9,358. Registered movements added 107 people, with 50,559 moving in and 50,452 moving out. Adding that small gain to the natural decrease gives the month's population loss of 9,251.

Migration therefore offset only about 1.1% of October's natural decrease. Deaths exceeded births for the 70th consecutive month, a longer stretch than the 34 months of total population decline because migration also affects the final population count.

Births rise from September but fall sharply from last year

October's birth count increased by 331, or 4.30%, from September. Compared with October a year earlier, however, it fell by 1,423, or 15.05%. The comparison month matters: a monthly improvement occurred alongside a substantial annual decline.

Those changes put September's births at 7,704 and births in October 2025 at 9,458. October 2026 therefore brought more babies than the preceding month, while still recording roughly 15 fewer births for every 100 recorded a year earlier.

July through October marked four consecutive months in which births fell by more than 10% compared with the same months of the previous year. The October decrease was part of that continuing pattern.

The ministry expressed October's births as roughly one baby every 5.6 minutes, with an annualized crude birth rate of 4.08 per 1,000 people. An annualized rate expresses one month's pace on a yearly scale. A crude birth rate compares births with the entire population, while a fertility rate measures childbearing among women.

Deaths exceed births by more than two to one

October's 17,393 deaths were 1,485 higher than a year earlier, an increase of 9.33%. Deaths also rose by 681, or 4.07%, from September.

The ministry calculated an annualized crude death rate of 8.82 per 1,000 people, equivalent to about one death every 2.6 minutes during October. There were approximately 2.16 deaths for every birth.

Both sides of the natural population balance moved toward a larger loss compared with October 2025. Births fell by 1,423 while deaths rose by 1,485, widening the gap between them by 2,908 people.

The earlier October had 9,458 births and 15,908 deaths, producing a natural decrease of 6,450. October 2026's decrease of 9,358 was about 45% larger. This comparison shows why the modest recovery in births from September did little to change the population's direction.

The first ten months show a sustained gap

Taiwan recorded 77,481 births and 166,203 deaths from January through October 2026. Subtracting births from deaths gives a natural population loss of 88,722 over those ten months.

Deaths were about 2.15 times births across that period, close to October's ratio of 2.16. The cumulative figures place October within a broader pattern in which deaths have been running at more than twice the number of births.

The main dates and periods in the latest figures are:

• January through October 2026: Taiwan registered 77,481 births and 166,203 deaths.
• July through October 2026: Monthly births fell by more than 10% from a year earlier for four consecutive months.
• End of October 2026: The population stood at about 23.204 million after its 34th consecutive monthly decline.
• November 10, 2026: The Ministry of the Interior released the October household registration statistics.

The annual population loss of 106,853 covers a different period from the January to October totals and includes the effect of migration. Each figure answers a different question: how much the population changed over a year, and how births compared with deaths during the first ten months.

Nearly 4.824 million residents are 65 or older

Taiwan's age structure consisted of 2,595,252 children aged 0 to 14, 15,785,039 residents aged 15 to 64, and 4,823,709 residents aged 65 and older. Those three counts add up to the population total of 23,204,000.

Children accounted for 11.18% and older residents for 20.79%. The count for people aged 15 to 64 corresponds to 68.03%; a figure of 68.78% also appeared in published summaries, but 68.03% matches the population count and brings the three age shares to 100%.

The thresholds used to describe population aging are 7% aged 65 and older for an aging society, 14% for an aged society, and 20% for a super-aged society. Taiwan's October share was 0.79 percentage points above the highest threshold.

For every 100 children aged 14 or younger, Taiwan had about 186 residents aged 65 or older. The figures put the size of the older generation into perspective alongside the smaller generation moving toward adulthood.

Taipei and Hsinchu show different age profiles

Taipei had the highest proportion of residents aged 65 and older, at 24.95%. That is almost one resident in four, compared with just over one in five across Taiwan.

Hsinchu County had the lowest older population share, at 15.59%. The gap between Taipei and Hsinchu County was 9.36 percentage points, showing how much the age balance can vary within the same national population.

Hsinchu also had the highest reported proportion of children aged 14 and younger, at 14.67%, while Kinmen County had the lowest, at 7.5%. Hsinchu's child share was nearly twice Kinmen's.

Age composition matters for local services because children, working adults and older residents have different needs. The figures give local authorities a concrete measure of the populations they serve when planning classrooms, community facilities and services for older people. The statistics give no timetable for specific service changes.

Birth and death rates vary across counties and cities

Penghu County recorded the highest annualized crude birth rate in October, at 5.52 per 1,000 people. Yunlin County followed at 5.27 and Hualien County at 5.04.

Keelung had the lowest rate, at 2.40 per 1,000, followed by Lienchiang County at 2.59 and Tainan at 3.01. Penghu's rate was 2.3 times Keelung's, illustrating a substantial difference in births relative to population size.

Pingtung County had the highest annualized crude death rate, at 12.76 per 1,000 people, while Taoyuan had the lowest, at 6.79. Pingtung's rate was about 1.88 times Taoyuan's.

Crude rates use the entire population as their base. Their interpretation therefore depends partly on who lives in each place: an older population has a different age profile from one with more children and younger adults. The rates are useful measures of registered births and deaths relative to local population size.

More households, fewer people per home

Taiwan had 9,938,952 registered households at the end of October, an increase of 99,227, or 1.01%, from a year earlier. Average household size fell to 2.33 people.

The household count increased even as the population fell by 0.46%. Smaller households allow these two trends to happen together: fewer people can be spread across a greater number of registered households.

October's marriage figures recorded 7,598 couples marrying, including 7,357 couples of different sexes and 241 couples of the same sex. The annualized crude marriage rate was 3.85 per 1,000 people.

There were also 4,041 divorces or marriage terminations, including 3,967 involving couples of different sexes and 74 involving couples of the same sex. The annualized crude divorce rate was 2.05 per 1,000 people. Alongside the population and household counts, these figures describe changes in the way Taiwan's residents are grouped into families and homes.

Key Points

• Taiwan's population fell for the 34th consecutive month to about 23.204 million in October 2026.
• October recorded 8,035 births and 17,393 deaths, a natural decrease of 9,358 people.
• A net migration gain of 107 reduced the total monthly population loss to 9,251.
• Births fell 15.05% from a year earlier, while deaths increased 9.33%.
• Residents aged 65 and older made up 20.79% of the population and outnumbered children by about 1.86 to one.
• Registered households increased to nearly 9.94 million, while average household size fell to 2.33 people.