PH birth rate down at 1.7; CPD calls for education, health investments

The Commission on Population and Development (CPD) is urging the government to ramp up investments in education, health, and skills development following reports of declining birth rate.

“As the country shows declining fertility rates at 1.7,  the CPD is calling for investment shifts of the country to maximize this window of opportunity,” the CPD said in a statement.

“With the growing working age population (aged 15-64 years), composing 63.9% of the Philippine population, investments should focus on developing our human capital; especially the education, health, and skills of our people,” it added.

While the declining birth rate may support positive economic indicators, CPD Undersecretary Lisa Grace Bersales said sustaining these gains will depend on how effectively the government invests in its people.

“These trends currently favor our socioeconomic indicators, the challenge is to sustain the accompanying benefits,” she said.

Inequalities

CPD also flagged inequalities across income and education levels as poorer households have an average of 2.8 children, compared to 1.1 among the wealthiest. Women with lower levels of education also tend to have higher fertility.

The CPD official stressed the need to align population and reproductive health policies with broader economic strategies.

“Population and reproductive health policies and strategies must be explicitly integrated with socioeconomic development strategies. Education and access to information are still key in ensuring that Filipinos achieve the number of children they desire, when they want it,” Bersales said.

Contraceptive use among currently married women rose to 58.6% in 2025 from 42% in 2022, while the use of modern methods also increased to 44.5% from 41.8%.

As the proportion of women who said they no longer want more children increased from 48.8% to 57%, the CPD pushes for framing family planning as part of broader “reproductive life planning” rather than merely birth limitation.

Adolescent pregnancy

On adolescent pregnancy, the CPD noted a relatively low rate of 4.9% among girls aged 15 to 19, but warned that cases remain concentrated among vulnerable sectors. 

Higher rates were recorded in Zamboanga Peninsula, Soccsksargen, and MIMAROPA, particularly among girls with lower education and those from poorer households.

The CPD raised concern over rising pregnancies among younger adolescents aged 10 to 14, with live births increasing by 8% in 2024 compared to the previous year. 

Many of the fathers in these cases were significantly older than the mothers.

Bersales said adolescent pregnancy should be viewed as a developmental inequality issue rather than just a health concern.

“It is no longer just about prevalence. It is about concentration among vulnerable groups,” she said.

To address these challenges, the CPD called for intensified reproductive health education aligned with life skills, expanded access to adolescent-friendly health services, and stronger interventions to curb school dropouts, early unions, and poverty cycles.—AOL, GMA News