Taiwan recorded more than 210,000 births last year. This is the second highest number of births recorded in the past ten years.
On Friday, the interior ministry announced that the number of babies born in Taiwan in 2014, the Year of the Horse in the Chinese Zodiac, was over 10,000 more than in 2013, which was the Year of the Snake.
The highest number of births in Taiwan during the last decade was recorded in 2012, the Year of the Dragon. In Chinese culture, the Year of the Dragon and the Year of the Horse are both considered auspicious.
Taiwan’s total fertility rate in 2014 was 1.16 births per woman. In 2010, the Year of the Tiger, Taiwan’s fertility rate plunged to 0.9, the lowest in the past ten years.
The sex ratio of Taiwan’s newborns in 2014 was 106.99 boys to 100 girls, the closest in a decade. The natural sex ratio at birth should be between 103 and 106 boys to 100 girls.