"Two Years of Rebound, What's the Secret?"... Taiwan Follows Korea's Lead in Tackling Low Birthrate

Low Birth Rate Addressed in Taiwan’s Super-Aged Society
Premier Cho: "Policies Modeled After Korea’s Case"
Korea Sees Modest Rebound in Birth Rate Since 2024

The Premier of Taiwan has defined the low birthrate issue as a matter of national security, stating, "We must raise the birthrate as Korea has."

A baby photo to help understand the article.

On April 29, Yonhap News quoted local media outlets, including United Daily News and Economic Daily News, reporting that "Taiwanese Premier Cho Jung-tai made this statement during a government Q&A session at the Legislative Yuan (the national parliament) on April 28." Taiwan has now entered a super-aged society, with 20% of its total population aged 65 or older. Last year, the nation recorded an all-time low total fertility rate (the average number of children a woman is expected to have in her lifetime) of 0.695.

In response to an opposition lawmaker’s remark that "the number of newborns this year may fall below 100,000," Premier Cho said, "The government is doing its utmost to keep the number above 100,000," adding, "These efforts will yield results in one to two years."

When pressed to "learn from Korea, where the birthrate has rebounded significantly in the past two years despite its own severe low birthrate crisis," Premier Cho replied, "We already regard Korea as a very important case to monitor." He continued, "There must be clear factors behind the rebound in Korea’s total fertility rate," and noted, "We have developed plans referencing the Korean case, including subsidies for young families and offering flexible childcare hours."

Taiwan's population peaked at about 23.6 million in 2019, after which it began to decline. In September last year, Taiwanese authorities announced three major measures to address low birthrates: expanding childbirth incentives, strengthening subsidies for in vitro fertilization (IVF) procedures, and launching a pilot project to support the costs of egg preservation during infertility treatment. IVF subsidies cover up to six cycles for women aged 39 or younger and up to three cycles for women aged 39 to 45. Support policies are being expanded across five areas: pregnancy, childbirth, childcare, housing, and employment, and a pilot program for flexible unpaid parental leave is also underway.

South Korea recorded approximately 255,000 births last year, an increase of 16,000 from the previous year and the steepest rise since 2010. Although the total fertility rate fell from 1.24 in 2015 to 0.72 in 2023, it rebounded to 0.75 in 2024 and 0.80 in 2025. According to statistics from February this year, the number of births increased for 20 consecutive months since July 2024, and the total fertility rate reached 0.93.

Kim Jin-oh, the new Vice Chairman of the Presidential Committee on Low Fertility and Aging Society, who took office on April 17, stressed, "We must not become complacent with a brief rebound," and added, "We will make the most of the golden window in the next three to four years and present the best possible solutions to the public."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.