Taiwan's birth rate drops to new low (Xinhua)
Updated: 2006-03-05 20:14
Taiwan's birth rate continued to drop to a new record low in 2005, with the
number of newborns falling to 206,000, according to a report reaching Hong
Kong from Taipei on Sunday.
The figure marked a 4.9 percent decline
from the previous year.
The birth rate in 2005 fell to 9.1 births per
1,000 population, the lowest level since Taiwan's data began being recorded,
according to local statistics department.
Of the 2005 newborns, 26,509
were born to non-Taiwanese mothers, accounting for 12.9 percent of the total,
slightly down from 13.2 percent in 2004.
The boy-girl ratio was 109 to
100. Of the newborns, 197,572 were born to married couples, down 5.2 percent
from the 2004 level, while 8,245 were born out of wedlock, up 4.5 percent and
making up 4 percent of the total new births. |
