TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Despite reporting a new record-low number of births for the fifth year in a row, Taiwan's population in 2023 grew for the first time in three years due to increased immigration.

On Wednesday (Jan. 10), the Ministry of the Interior (MOI) announced that the population in 2023 was 23,424,442, an increase of 155,802 from 2022, marking the end of a population decline observed since 2020. The cumulative number of births from January to December 2023 was 135,571, a decrease of 3,415 compared to 2022, reaching a new record low in the country's recorded statistics.

In its report on household registration statistics for 2023, the MOI's Department of Household Registration said that the increase of 155,802 people compared to 2022 represented an average increase of 426.85 people per day. As for the number of births, the number of newborns has been steadily decreasing year by year over the past five years, dropping to 181,601 in 2018, 177,767 in 2019, 165,249 in 2020, 153,820 in 2021, and 138,986 in 2022.

For 2023, the total number of newborns was 135,571, resulting in a crude birth rate of 5.82 per 1,000. This is a decrease compared to the 2022 figures, which had 138,986 newborns and a crude birth rate of 5.96 per 1,000, representing a further decline of 3,415 births, marking a new historical low in newborn numbers since the MOI began recording statistics.

That same year, the total number of deaths was 205,368, resulting in a crude death rate of 7.90 per 1,000. This is a decrease compared to the 2022 figures, which had a total of 207,230 deaths, representing 1,862 fewer deaths.

Regarding immigration and emigration statistics, in December 2023, the number of people emigrating into the region was 68,898, a decrease of 3,111 compared to November 2023. The number of people emigrating out was 59,340, a decrease of 4,826 compared to November 2023. Therefore, net migration in December 2023 was 9,558 people.

Natural increase can be calculated by subtracting the number of deaths from the number of births. In Taiwan, the natural increase rate for the year 2023 is negative, with a decrease of 69,797 people.

However, Taiwan's "social increase rate" figure, which is calculated by subtracting the number of people emigrating from the number of people immigrating, for 2023 is an increase of 225,599 people. When factoring in both natural and social increases, the overall population had a net migration increase of 155,802 people for 2023.

In terms of the number of marriages, 125,192 couples got married in 2023, resulting in a crude marriage rate of 6.54 per 1,000. This is an increase of 195 couples compared to 2022, reaching a new high since 2020.

The number of couples who got divorced in 2023 was 53,085, resulting in a crude divorce rate of 2.18 per 1,000. In terms of counties and cities, Penghu County had the highest crude divorce rate at 3.61%, followed by Taitung County at 2.78%, and Hualien County at 2.67%.