Taiwan has more women than men for the first time

Taiwan now has more women than men for the first time in its history, the island's latest census showed Friday, in stark contrast to China where there is a large preponderance of males. For every 100 women, there were 99.6 men in Taiwan in 2010, compared with 104.2 men for every 100 women just a decade ago, said the Directorate General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics, which conducted the 10-yearly census. The agency attributed the gap to a growing number of foreign women moving to Taiwan after marrying local men as well as more Taiwanese men going abroad to work than women In China, men currently make up over 51 percent of the population, according to the latest national census results released in April. The census found 118.06 males were born in China to every 100 baby girls over the past 10 years, an imbalance often attributed to the Chinese preference for male heirs. The census also showed that Taiwan's population growth eased in the past decade to an average 0.4 percent a year, as the island's birth rates dwindled to one of the lowest in the world in recent years. Taiwan's birth rate hit a record low in 2010 when the number of newborn babies dwindled to 166,886 from 191,310 in 2009, government data showed. However, fertility rates rose for the first time in 11 years in the first half of 2011, after a string of incentives offered by the government, including cash gifts and other childcare and fertility treatment subsidies.