歐皇偉哥
Taiwan's Low Birth Rate
Reprint: [The whole world is struggling, but only one can be number one] In 2025, Taiwan has earned the title of the country with the world's lowest birth rate, with only 107,000 newborns annually. Behind this number lies an even more dismal figure: a 21% drop in 2025. In contrast, South Korea's drop in its worst year, 2023, was only 7%. Therefore, last year, Taiwan's birth rate drop was not double that of South Korea's worst year, but triple! Taiwan is truly in a dire situation. Positively correlated with this grim situation are 'Taiwan's housing prices' and 'the explosive growth of the AI industry'. Taiwan's housing prices and rents reached an all-time high in the third quarter of 2024. In the years prior, due to government policies and loose monetary conditions, Taiwan's housing prices and rents had already been soaring for years. Furthermore, in the years leading up to 2025, the global AI boom led to record-breaking economic growth rates in Taiwan. The Taiwanese dollar, which should have significantly appreciated to 1:13 under free exchange rates, was suppressed by the central bank's intervention to prevent further appreciation. This resulted in a massive influx of M2 money into the domestic economy, ultimately causing inflation to explode across Taiwan. (However, the CPI announced by the government remained stably at 2%.) High housing prices and rents stem from Taiwan, which has the world's highest vacancy rate but no vacancy tax. High prices are a result of the central bank channeling the fruits of economic growth back to the public through inflation via exchange rates. With sky-high housing prices and rents, and soaring living costs, the public is forced to become 'sterile' to survive, despite the economy performing exceptionally well.
2026.10.06 AM 7:52 · View Count 455
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Lv.83
panpanpan
Those who survive are all heroes.
Lv.1
納克
Looking at these cold, hard numbers, it's clear the people living on this land have had a tough time. With such immense survival pressure, when will this battle for survival ever end?
Lv.36
勇
It's not that I don't want to have kids, but I'm afraid I can't afford to raise them...
Lv.45
森嵐
Only a few people are doing well financially. If you have kids, you either don't have money to raise them or don't have time. What's more, with all the child abuse cases lately, isn't the environment just not suitable for raising children anymore?
Lv.100
詞彙
Anyone who's raised a kid knows. The overall environment isn't child-friendly. You see a ton of policies, but once you raise one, you realize there are tons of problems.
Lv.56
哈哈哈哈哈哈哈66666
The social reasons behind it are quite serious!
Lv.71
小米丁
Slowly but surely heading towards ruin.
Lv.78
自由女神2
Nowadays, people can barely support themselves.
Lv.98
ht
Can't afford a house, low salary, and high stress... would you want to bring a child into this society?
Lv.86
藺寶貝
Taiwan's housing and living costs are ridiculously high right now. It's hard enough to afford rent, let alone buy a house. A two-bedroom apartment in New Taipei City starts at a minimum of NT$12 million, and that's barely enough for one person. Marriage rates are dropping, so naturally, birth rates are too. People aren't stupid; why would they choose to be single parents? Raising kids doesn't guarantee support in old age, and you might end up supporting them instead.
Lv.93
默.
Thanks for the analysis!
Lv.55
shiowling
Everything's so expensive these days, I don't dare have kids or get married.
Lv.100
妮兔
Thanks for sharing.
Lv.60
糖霜丸
Raising kids for old age security isn't a life goal for modern people anymore! It's more important to just live your own good life...
Lv.5
ttp0922
Raising kids is just too expensive these days, I can't afford it.
Lv.29
露露.
Thanks for sharing.
Lv.102
虎咬豬
Thanks for sharing.
Lv.85
sange
Sigh! That's such an accurate analysis. Young people are afraid to have kids, accelerating the aging population. I can't imagine what will happen in 10 years!
Lv.84
janelinj
Most people are just earning minimum wage, how are they supposed to raise kids?
Lv.16
樂語
Can't afford to raise them, prices are too high.