Population increase slows to 2.04%

MANILA, Philippines - The total number of Filipinos grew to 88.57 million as of August last year against 76.5 million in 2000, final results of the latest Census of Population conducted by the National Statistics Office (NSO) showed. The latest figures placed annual population growth in the country for the period 2000-2007 at a 2.04% average, a slowdown from the 2.34% average in 1990-2000, consistent with original projections. "[This population growth rate] was the lowest annual population growth rate recorded for the Philippines since the 1960s," the NSO said in its report. And it is expected to ease further in the coming years with average annual population growth for the period 2005-2010 projected at 1.95%, based on the 2000 Census of Population and Housing. This slowdown, according to Unicapital economist Erico Claudio, is a natural tendency for economies as they develop. "As economies develop, the demographics also change," Mr. Claudio said. These changes, coupled with more opportunities for education, lead individuals to delay marriage and having families. Increasing deployment of overseas Filipino workers may also be a factor for the slowdown, Mr. Claudio added. Census results showed that 12 of 17 regions had population growth rates that were lower than the national figure. The five that registered higher growth rates were the National Capital Region (NCR), as Metro Manila is also known; Central Luzon; Calabarzon (Cavite-Laguna-Batangas-Rizal-Quezon), Soccsksargen (South Cotabato-Cotabato-Sultan Kudarat-Sarangani-General Santos City in central Mindanao) and the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao. Among these five, Calabarzon reported the largest population at 11.74 million. NCR was a close second with a population of 11.55 million. Central Luzon followed with 9.72 million. "The combined population of these three regions comprised more than one-third (37.3%) of the Philippine population," the NSO noted. Meanwhile, of the country’s provinces, Cavite had the largest population with 2.86 million followed by Bulacan with 2.83 million and Pangasinan with 2.65 million. On the other hand, three provinces reported population of less than a hundred thousand: Batanes, Camiguin and Siquijor. Only four of the country’s 32 highly urbanized cities made it to the "millionaires’ club." Three of these were in NCR, namely: Quezon City, Manila and Caloocan City. The fourth highly urbanized city, which hit a million population, was Davao City with population of 1.36 million. - Josephine B. Valle, BusinessWorld