THE Philippines’s population could see an increase of close to a million this year as more couples regain confidence to marry in 2021, according to the Commission on Population and Development (Popcom).
Data released by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) on Tuesday showed births contracted 14.3 percent while marriages surged 43.9 percent last year. Deaths also swelled 39 percent in 2021.
Undersecretary for Population and Development (Popdev) and Popcom Executive Director Juan Antonio Perez III told BusinessMirror that given these developments and barring any resurgence in Covid-19 mortalities, the country’s population growth rate could see the return of pre-Covid demographic trends.
“Due to these developments, coupled with lower mortalities from Covid and other mortalities affected by the health sector prioritization of Covid control, births will increase in 2022 leading to increased population growth,” Perez said in a Viber message. “The population growth in 2022 will be lower than 2019 but closer to 2020 as pre-Covid demographic trends return.”
Perez noted that the 2021 increase in marriages has not yet reached pre-Covid levels but already “showed increased confidence of couples during the quiescent periods of the pandemic.”
He added that the presence of vaccines against Covid was also a factor that led to a higher number of marriages in 2021. The decrease in births, Perez said, reflected the peak of the lockdowns due to the pandemic in late 2020 and early 2021.
The Popdev Undersecretary also noted that in the Philippines, the population growth has been declining by 0.3 to 0.4 percent every decade. He said, however, that the 2021 population of the country still increased by 400,000.
Births
PSA data showed that the preliminary number of registered births reached 1.31 million between January and December 2021. This is a contraction of 14.3 percent from the total registered births of 1.53 million in the same period in 2020.
Among regions, Region IV-A (Calabarzon) recorded the highest number of registered births at 198,464 or 15.2 percent of the total births in the country between January and December 2021.
The data also showed that births in Metro Manila reached 156,931 between January and December 2021—down by 21.1 percent from the 198,981 births registered in the same period in 2020.
PSA said Quezon City recorded the highest number of registered births in Metro Manila at 33,568 or 21.4 percent of the total births in the region from January to December 2021.
“The city similarly had the highest share during the same period in 2020, with 44,445 or 22.3 percent of the total births in the region,” the PSA said.
Marriages
The preliminary number of registered marriages reached 346,595 in 2021, 43.9 percent higher than the total registered marriages of 240,775 in the same period in 2020.
Among regions, Region IV-A (Calabarzon) recorded the highest number of registered marriages at 49,864 in 2021 or 14.4 percent of the total marriages in the country.
NCR registered 39,916 marriages in 2021 or a 22.1-percent increase from the 32,689 marriages registered in the same period in 2020.
The data showed Quezon City recorded the highest number of registered marriages in the NCR from January to December 2021 at 12,188 or 30.5 percent of the total marriages in the region.
“The city similarly had the highest share during the same period in 2020, with 9,420 or 28.8 percent of the total marriages in the region,” the PSA said.
Deaths
The preliminary number of registered deaths reached 853,074 in 2021, higher by 39 percent than the total registered deaths of 613,936 in the same period in 2020.
Among regions, Region 4A (Calabarzon) recorded the highest number of registered deaths at 135,333 in 2021 or 15.9 percent of the total deaths in the country.
NCR registered 101,064 deaths in 2021, or a 19.8-percent increase from the 84,355 deaths registered in the same period in 2020.
Quezon City recorded the highest number of registered deaths in the NCR at 23,064 in 2021 or 22.8 percent of the total deaths in the region.
“The city similarly had the highest share during the same period in 2020, with 18,455 or 21.9 percent of the total deaths in the region,” PSA said.