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Taiwan Population and religion percentage

Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. It is located at the meeting point of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People’s Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the northeast, and the Philippines to the south.

The territories controlled by the ROC consist of 168 islands, with a combined area of 36,193 square kilometers (13,974 sq mi). The main island of Taiwan, also known as Formosa, has an area of 35,808 square kilometers (13,826 sq mi), with mountain ranges dominating the eastern two-thirds and plains in the western third, where its highly urbanized population is concentrated. 

The Republic of China, which had overthrown the Qing in 1911, took control of Taiwan on behalf of the Allies of World War II following the surrender of Japan in 1945. The resumption of the Chinese Civil War resulted in the loss of the Chinese mainland to Communist forces who established the People’s Republic of China and the flight of the ROC central government to Taiwan in 1949. The effective jurisdiction of the ROC has since been limited to Formosa, Penghu, and smaller islands.

As per the UN World Population Prospects report, the estimated population of  Taiwan  in 2024 is 23,950,213 (24 million or 2.4 Crore)

Read about Top Countries by Population

Taiwan2023 Population
Total Population2,3816,775 (2.38 Crore)
Global Rank57
Share of World Pop.0.31%
Land Area 35,410 sq.km (13,672 sq. mi)
Area Rank133
Pop. Density673 people/sq. km
Capital CityTaipei

Taiwan location on Map.

Taiwan Constitution gives people freedom of religion and the practices of belief. The five largest religions in Taiwan are Buddhism, Taoism, Yiguandao, Protestantism, and Roman Catholicism. The majority of Taiwanese people practice a combination of Buddhism and Taoism often with a Confucian worldview, which is collectively termed as Chinese folk religion.

According to Census and other estimates, Buddhism is the largest religion in Taiwan and is followed by 35.10% of the population. Chinese Folk religions are followed by 41.3% which include Taoists, Confucianism, Yiguandao, Tiandiism, Miledadao, and Zailiism.

Among Other Religions 3.9% are Christian and 1% are Muslim. The remaining 13.7% are classified as unaffiliated, which can mean agnostic, atheist, or “nothing in particular”.

Religion percentage in Taiwan

Religion / AffiliationsPercentage
  Buddhism 35.10%
Chinese folk religion/ Traditional Religion 41.30%
  – Taoism – 33.00%
  – Yiguandao – 3.50%
  – Tiandiism – 2.20%
  – Miledadao – 1.10%
  – Zailiism – 0.80%
 – Xuanyuanism – 0.70%
Other Religions 
Christianity 3.90%
Islam1.00%
 Unaffiliated/ No religion 18.70%

Taiwan Demographics

Fertility Rate* of Taiwan1.15
Infant mortality rate ** in Taiwan3.2
Median Age in Taiwan 42.5 Years
Life Expectancy in Taiwan81.04 years
Urban Population of Taiwan78.9 %

*Fertility rate, average number of children born to women during their reproductive years.

**Infant mortality rate is the number of deaths per 1,000 live births of children under one year of age.

Top Cities in Taiwan by Population

#CityDivisionPopulation
1New TaipeiNew Taipei City40,00,164
2TaichungTaichung City28,09,004
3KaohsiungKaohsiung City27,73,229

4

TaipeiTaipei City26,61,317

5

TaoyuanTaoyuan City22,30,653
6TainanTainan City18,83,078
7HsinchuHsinchu City4,46,701
8KeelungKeelung City3,69,820
9ChiayiChiayi City2,68,474
10ChanghuaChanghua County2,32,505
Population of Taiwan 2024 | Religion in Taiwan

Rajeev Rana

Rajeev Rana loves reading about history and demography and has been writing on these topics for five years. While not a certified expert, he has a deep understanding of demography in India. Rajeev contributes to several websites and has extensive knowledge of the Delhi NCR area.