Taiwan's birth rate continued to drop to a new record low in 2005, with the number of newborns falling to 206,000, according to a report reaching from Taipei on Sunday.

The figure marked a 4.9 percent decline from the previous year.

The birth rate in 2005 fell to 9.1 births per 1,000 population, the lowest level since Taiwan's data began being recorded, according to local statistics department.

Of the 2005 newborns, 26,509 were born to non-Taiwanese mothers, accounting for 12.9 percent of the total, slightly down from 13.2 percent in 2004.

The boy-girl ratio was 109 to 100. Of the newborns, 197,572 were born to married couples, down 5.2 percent from the 2004 level, while 8,245 were born out of wedlock, up 4.5 percent and making up 4 percent of the total new births.

(Xinhua News Agency March 6, 2006)