February 3, 2019
The new reality means that more pressure is put on the workforce to uphold social security safety nets.
Taiwan’s working-age population fell to a record 72.52 percent at the end of 2018, indicating a growing burden on the workforce, data from the Ministry of the Interior showed Saturday.
The working-age population, defined as citizens aged 15-64, was 17.11 million as of the end of last year, the lowest since 2012, according to the MOI. The figure represented 72.52 percent of the country’s population of 23.59 million, the data showed.
Meanwhile, the 65 and over age group accounted for 14.56 percent of the population, while the 0-14 age category made up 12.92 percent, as of the end of 2018, according to the data.
It meant that Taiwan’s index of aging, defined as the ratio of citizens 65 and over to those 0-14, had risen to 112.64, a sharp growth of 83 percent from 61.51 at the end of 2008, the data indicated.
Over the 10-year period, the under-15 population shrank by 4.03 percent, while the 65 and over population grew 4.13 percent, according to the ministry.