Taiwan saw 194,939 births in 2013, down 16.9 percent year on year, a fall mainly attributable to an elevated birth rate in 2012, the Year of the Dragon, according to a recent report by the Ministry of the Interior. The crude birth rate in 2013 was 8.35 per 1,000, down 1.73 from the previous year.
The MOI said 6.7 percent of babies were born to foreign mothers in 2013, almost all of whom came from mainland China, Hong Kong and Macau or Southeast Asia. This was down 0.6 of a percentage point versus the previous year, and far below the peak of 13.2 percent seen in 2004. Only 259 babies, or 0.13 percent, were born to foreign mothers from outside these regions.
A total of 53.5 percent of the babies were born to first-time mothers, 36.1 percent were second births and 10.4 percent were third or more births. Compared with a decade ago, the share of first-time births was up by 2.2 percentage points, but for second and third or more births the shares fell by 0.5 and 1.7 percentage points, respectively.
Most births were to mothers aged 25-34 years old, with the average age of mothers giving birth continuing to increase to 31.4. Mothers from Southeast Asia had the youngest average age, at 29.9, while those from mainland China and its two special administrative regions averaged 30.5. The age of foreign mothers giving birth has rapidly increased, and was on average 5.8 years and 2.8 years older for those from Southeast Asia and mainland China (including the SARs), respectively.
The average age of mothers at first birth also continues to increase, rising from 27.2 in 2003 to 30.4 in 2013. In 2013, 46.7 percent of first births were to mothers aged 30-plus, up from 37.5 percent a decade earlier.
Examining the demographic breakdown by nationality and education, for ROC nationals the modal birth cohort, 30.1 percent, was aged 30-34 with education at the technical college or higher level. For mainland China and the SARs it was aged 25-29 and educated to high school and above (23.9 percent). For Southeast Asia it was aged 30-34 with junior high school education or below (23.2 percent). (SDH)
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