Taiwan fertility rate lowest in world: poll

Moreover, the fertility rate in Taiwan is still declining, said Carl Haub,a senior demographer at the Washington D.C.-based non-profit organization, Population Reference Bureau (PRB), in an article on birth rates in low fertility countries. Haub's article was published Aug. 12 on the PRB Web site alongside its 2009 World Population Data Sheet.

According to the data sheet, Taiwan registered only eight births per 1,000 population, the lowest level in the world. Taiwan's population as of mid-2009 was 23.1 million, it showed.

The world's highest fertility rate was in Niger, 7.4 children per woman, according to the PRB statistics.

The data sheet also showed that the global population reached 6.8 billion in 2009 and is on track to total 8.1 billion in 2050.

China now has the world's largest population of 1.331 billion people, but by 2050 India is expected to take over that spot with a projected population of 1.748 billion, while China's will be at 1.437 billion, according to the PRB data sheet.

In its report, PRB said although the fertility rates in more developed countries continue to drop, the global population is on track to reach 7 billion in 2011, just 12 years after it hit the 6 billion mark.

This projected growth was described by PRB President Bill Butz as “unprecedented in world history.” According to the PRB report, during the 20th century, nearly 90 percent of population growth took place in countries classified as less developed by the United Nations — Africa, Asia (except Japan), Latin America and the Caribbean, and Oceania (except Australia and New Zealand) — thanks to a decline in death rates.

“The great bulk of today's 1.2 billion youth — 90 percent — are in developing countries,” said Haub, noting that eight in 10 of those youth live in Africa and Asia.

In the next few decades, “these young people will most likely continue the current trend of moving from rural areas to cities in search of education and training opportunities, gainful employment, and adequate health care,” he said.

As a result, one of the major social questions in the next few decades will be whether their expectations will be met, Haub said.

PRB works to inform people around the world about population, health and the environment, and empowers them to use that information to advance the well-being of current and future generations.

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