8 Billion Lives
Be born

Where you could be born / Asia / Eastern Asia

Born in Taiwan

About 1 in 998 people born in 2023 started life in Taiwan. A boy can expect to live 78 years and a girl 84, up from 54 and 59 in 1950.

1 in 998
odds of being born here
132,400 births · Ranked 99th of 230
78 / 84
years of life, boys / girls
Was 54 / 59 in 1950
$20,297
income per person a year
2021 dollars · Ranked 50th of 203 · extrapolated
4 in 1,000
children die before five
Ranked 192nd of 230

Life and health

Life lasts about 24 years longer than in 1950. Child deaths fell from 112 in every 1,000 births to 4.2.

How long a life lasts

GirlsBoys

0255075100195019852023

Years a baby born that year could expect to live.

Children who die before age 5
050100150195019852023

In every 1,000 births.

Life expectancy at birth77.6 years for boys, 83.6 for girlsUN WPP 2024
Children who die before age 54.2 in every 1,000 birthsUN WPP 2024
Deaths a year205,000UN WPP 2024

Family

Women had 6.5 children on average in 1950. Now it is 0.9, below the 2.1 it takes to keep a population steady.

Children per woman
02468195019852023

Average over a lifetime.

Children per woman0.87UN WPP 2024
Average age of mothers at birth31.9 yearsUN WPP 2024

Money and work

If every 100 coins of income were shared out, the richest fifth would hold 40 and the poorest fifth 8.

Who gets the income
Share of all income by fifth of the population, 2021
8%Poorest fifth
13%Second
17%Middle
22%Fourth
40%Richest fifth
Income per personabout $20,297 a year (2021 dollars, adjusted for prices)World Bank PIP, scaled between survey years Extrapolated
Share of income going to the richest fifth / poorest fifth40% / 8% (2021)World Bank PIP

Daily life

The largest city is Taipei, with 7.9 million people.

Largest cities
People living there
Taipei7.9 million
New Taipei City4.0 million
Taichung2.9 million
Kaohsiung2.7 million
Tainan1.9 million
Languages
Share of people who can use each
Chinese95%
Min Nan Chinese57%
Hakka Chinese11%
Chinese, Min Nan Chinese, Hakka Chinese is official.

Cities and regions

Every state, province and large city with a page.

Largest regions

Taiwan17.9 million
Taipei5.4 million
Takao3.1 million
Fukien68,333

Sourced: GeoNames Population of each state, province or region.

Large cities

Sourced: GeoNames Cities with a page: a million people or more.

People on the move

About 3.6% as many people born here live abroad as live here. The most common destinations are United States, China, Canada.

Where people born here live abroad
By country of residence, 2024
United States404,256
China170,422
Canada64,617
People born here who live abroadequal to 3.6% of the people who live hereUN DESA migrant stock
Where they go mostUnited States (404,256), China (170,422), Canada (64,617)UN DESA migrant stock

Safety nets

99% of older people receive a pension. Help for someone who loses a job reaches 7%.

99%
of older people receive a pension (2023)
7%
of unemployed people receive a benefit (2023)

Events in the data

The game draws real events from these records, so a life lived here can meet them.

Significant earthquakes recorded since 195035; the deadliest, in 1999, killed about 2,297 people (magnitude 7.6)NOAA NCEI
Hurricane-strength storms since 198067NOAA IBTrACS

Now live it.

Born in Taiwan, to a family drawn from these numbers. Every life replays exactly from its seed.

Be born in Taiwan

Elsewhere in Asia

All countries

How to read the sources. Every figure is sourced to a named dataset, shown beside it. A figure marked "Extrapolated" is estimated by a model because no survey covers the year. UN figures are for 2023, the latest year of UN estimates; other figures are the latest year their dataset has. Rank 1 is the highest figure among 230 countries and territories. All sources and licences