Taiwan has overtaken South Korea to record the world’s lowest birth rate, according to newly released government data.
Why It Matters
Roughly two-thirds of the world’s population now lives in regions where total fertility rates, births expected per woman, are below the 2.1 threshold needed for natural population replacement, per the United Nations. Longer life spans, rising living costs and shifting attitudes toward family have led younger generations to delay or opt out of having children.
East Asia is home to some of the lowest birth rates globally. The trend, coupled with rapidly aging populations, strains pension systems and threatens to drag on the some of the world’s largest economies.
Newsweek reached out to Taiwan’s Ministry of the Interior by email for comment.
What To Know
Taiwan’s birth rate stood at 4.62 per 1,000 people, according to Ministry of the Interior data released Friday. Taiwan has yet to release its official total fertility rate for 2025, but based on monthly data reported by the Ministry of the Interior last year, the figure is likely about 0.72.
That would make Taiwan the lowest in the world, matching a record previously held by South Korea, which reported the same rate in 2023.
Births in Taiwan fell for the 10th consecutive year, with 107,812 newborns—down 20 percent from 2024 and the lowest number since the ministry began keeping statistics. Meanwhile, the share of people aged 65 and older in Taiwan’s population of 23 million has reached 20 percent, qualifying it as a “super-aged society” under United Nations standards, along with Japan and South Korea.
South Korea reached that threshold at the end of 2024, though its fertility rate crept upward last year to 0.75 births per woman, largely attributed to an uptick in births among mothers in their 30s.
What People Are Saying
Taiwan’s National Development Council, on its website: “As women continue to delay their first marriage, this also postpones the age of first childbearing and further shortens their reproductive period. Delaying childbearing reduces both the likelihood and the desire to have children due to physiological and physical limitations, making it challenging for the birth rate to recover.”
What Happens Next
Last year, Taiwan’s Cabinet approved a new package of subsidies aimed at boosting births, including a cash allowance of 100,000 New Taiwan dollars ($3,200) per child.
However, given rising housing costs and stagnant wages, it remains unclear whether such measures will make a difference—especially as Japan and South Korea have seen limited success despite committing far more funding than Taiwan over the years to boost births.
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