TAIPEI -- A report released by Taiwan's education authorities predicts the island will see a steep decline in numbers of students at all education stages over the next 16 years, with primary school students dwindling by 20,000 each year on average.

Attributing the decline to the island's low fertility rate, the authorities estimated that junior high school students will decrease by an annual average of 8,800 and senior high school students by 10,400 between 2022 and 2037.

The number of school students in Taiwan will fall below 1 million by 2029, and drop to 867,000 by 2037, according to the authorities.

In 2021, Taiwan had approximately 1.2 million primary school students and 587,000 junior high school students, according to the education authorities. Other statistics have shown that Taiwan's population has registered negative growth for the two years since 2020.