Table 1.

Basic socioeconomic and health indicators in Taiwan, 1953-95^{5 7 8 9}

Variable	1953	1976	1985	1995
Socioeconomic indicators
Population (million)	8.3	16.5	19.3	21.3
Population aged ⩾65 (%)	2.5	3.6	5.1	7.6
Gross national product per capita (US$)	196*	1132	3297	12 396
Gini coefficient	0.56	0.28	0.29	0.32
Ratio of highest fifth's income to lowest fifth's	20.46	4.18	4.50	5.34
Health indicators
Crude death rate (per 1000)	9.4	4.7	4.8	5.6
Under 5s mortality (per 1000)†	21.1	3.9	2.1	1.9
Life expectancy (years):
Male	58.2	68.7	70.8	71.9
Female	61.4	73.6	75.8	77.8

^*1952. 

^†Number of deaths in group aged 0-4 per 1000 population in same age group.