Page 17 - 2024 Taiwan Health and Welfare Report

02 ｜ Health and Welfare Indicators

Rising incomes, improved living environment dense area was Taitung, at 60 people, followed by
and nutrition, advances in medicine and health care, Hualien, at 69 people.
and greater health awareness have led to a gradual
increase in Taiwan's life expectancy. As baby boomers Section 1 Population Age Structure
become older, and the birth rate declines, one must The declining birth rate and the rising life
pay greater attention to the health needs of an aging expectancy at birth have reduced the proportion
population. The changing demographics may affect not of young population, and conversely increased the
only national health expenditure (NHE) and resource proportion of the elderlies. Between 2011 and 2023,
distributions, but also the rate of economic growth. the proportion of the population aged 0-14 dropped
In this section, we address these topics by examining from 15.1% to 12.0%, while the proportion of the
important health and welfare indicators, including population at 65 years old or over has exceeded 7.0%
population indicators, vital indicators, NHE, social as of 1993. Taiwan has entered a transitional phase
welfare indicators, and international comparisons. towards an aging society continuing to rise ever since.
The figure rose to 10.9% in 2011, rising to 14.6% in
Chapter 1 Population Indicators 2018 and we officially became an aged society. The
At the end of 2023, Taiwan had a registered percentage continued to rise to 18.4% in 2023 as
population of 23.42 million, an increase of 6.70 ‰ from shown in Figure 2-1.
2022. There were 11.55 million males, an increase of Regarding gender differences, females
4.71 ‰, and 11.87 million females, an increase of 8.64 accounted for a greater proportion of aging population
‰. The sex ratio (the ratio of males to females in a than the males. In 2023, females accounted for
population) decreased to 97.35. higher proportion 19.8% of elderlies than males which
At the end of 2023, there were 647 people per accounted for 16.8%. On the other hand, females
square kilometer, slightly higher than the previous year. accounted for lower proportion 11.3% of young
The densest city was Taipei, at 9,242 people. The least population than males which accounted for 12.5%.

Figure 2-1 Population Age Structure

2.7 80+ 3.9
2.1 75-79 2.7
2.9 70-74 5.2
3.1 65-69 6.6
5.1 60-64 7.5
6.9 55-59 7.6
7.8 50-54 7.5
8.2 45-49 8.1
7.9 40-44 8.6
7.9 35-39 7.0
8.7 30-34 6.8
7.7 25-29 6.6
6.9 20-24 5.6
6.9 15-19 4.4
6.2 10-14 4.3
4.8 5-9 4.4
2011 4.1 0-4 3.3 2023
Ĉ
10.0 8.0 6.0 4.0 2.0 0.0 0.0 2.0 4.0 6.0 8.0 10.0
Source: Ministry of the Interior, R.O.C. (Taiwan)
Source: Ministry of the Interior, R.O.C. (Taiwan)

15