Taipei: Taiwan's population declined for the 26th consecutive month in February, as births sank to a record low of 6,523. Factoring in births, deaths, and net migration, Taiwan's population stood at 23,280,273 as of the end of February, marking a month-over-month drop of 8,772 people, according to data released by the Ministry of the Interior (MOI) on Tuesday.

According to Focus Taiwan, monthly births fell below 7,000 for the first time on record, down 3,884 year over year and 2,200 from January, resulting in an annual crude birth rate of 3.65 per 1,000 people. Deaths totaled 14,881, a decrease of 2,648 from January and 7,007 year over year, while the number of people leaving Taiwan outstripped new arrivals by 414.

The demographic data highlighted that the number of people aged 65 and older totaled 4,707,676, or 20.22 percent of the population, meeting the United Nations' definition of a "super-aged society," where people 65 and older account for more than 20 percent of the population. People aged 0 to 14 accounted for 11.46 percent of the population (2,667,349), while those aged 15 to 64 made up 68.32 percent (15,905,248).

Among local governments, Taoyuan City recorded the highest population growth rate at 0.6 percent, followed by Hsinchu County at 0.29 percent, with Taichung City ranking third at 0.18 percent. Kinmen County experienced the largest drop at 2.5 percent, followed by Lienchiang County (Matsu) at 1.96 percent and Taipei at 1.87 percent.