Fertility rate among Filipino women steadily declined over 3 decades — PSA

The fertility rate among Filipino women in the country has steadily declined in the past 32 years since 1993, results of a Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) survey showed.

The 2025 National Demographic and Health Survey (NDHS) indicated that the Total Fertility Rate (TFR) among women aged 15 to 49 in the Philippines was 1.7 children per woman in the three-year period before the survey.

This shows a steady decrease from 4.1 children per woman in 1993.

The TFR is the average number of children a woman is expected to have by the end of her childbearing years, based on the current birth rates for each age group.

Researchers interviewed 29,694 women from 36,128 households, resulting in a response rate of 98.2%.

In rural areas, the TFR went down from 4.8 to 2.0 children per woman, while it dropped from 3.5 to 1.5 children per woman in urban areas.

Fertility has stayed higher in rural areas than in urban areas, the survey stated.

In the Age-Specific Fertility Rate (ASFR), the number of births among teenagers was low, with 22 births for every 1,000 women aged 15 to 19 years old.

Meanwhile, birth rates were highest among women aged 25 to 29, with 94 births per 1,000 women.

This is followed by women aged 30 to 34, with 84 births per 1,000 women. Birth rates dropped sharply in the following age groups.

CALABRAZON had the lowest average number of children per woman at 1.3, followed by the National Capital Region and Negros Island Region, both at 1.4 children per woman.

On the other hand, the average number of children per woman was highest in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), showing 2.4 children per woman.

This was followed by Zamboanga Peninsula with 2.3 children per woman, and Caraga with 2.2.

Women with some primary education had the highest average number of children at 3.1. The number of children generally became lower as the education level increased.

As wealth increased, the number of children decreased, according to the survey, noting a drop from 2.8 children per woman among the poorest families to 1.1 among the richest families.

The Philippines also recorded a TFR of 1.7 children per woman among women aged 15 to 49 during the three years before the survey, a significant decrease from 4.1 children per woman in 1993.

During the same period, the TFR dropped from 4.8 to 2.0 children per woman in rural areas and from 3.5 to 1.5 children per woman in urban areas.

Researchers said fertility rates remained consistently higher in rural areas.

Teenage pregnancy

In 2025, 4.9% of women aged 15 to 19 had been pregnant, according to the survey.

This includes those who had given birth (3.5%), were pregnant at the time of the interview (1.3%), or had experienced a pregnancy loss (0.5%).

However, the proportion of teenage girls who had been pregnant increased from 1.5% among 15-year-olds to 9.7% among 19-year-olds.

Teenage pregnancy was also more common in rural areas (5.8%) than in urban areas (4.2%).

Zamboanga Peninsula logged the highest rate of teenage pregnancy with 9.3%, followed by SOCCSKSARGEN (8.2%) and MIMAROPA (8.2%).

Teenage girls with some primary education had the highest pregnancy rate at 17.2%.

Meanwhile, teenage pregnancy was highest among those in the poorest group (9.4%) and lowest among those in the richest group (1.4%).

Since 1993, childbearing among teenage girls aged 15 to 19 years old peaked at 10.1 percent in 2013, then declined to its lowest recorded level of 4.8 percent in 2025.

Teenage childbearing was also at its lowest level recorded in urban areas (4.1%) and rural areas (5.6%) over the same period.

Fertility preference

In 2025, about three out of five married women aged 19 to 49 years old said they do not want more children. This is equivalent to 57.3%.

Around 13.4% wanted to have another child within two years, and 16.2% wanted to delay their next birth for two years or more.

Less than 1% wanted another child but were undecided about the timing, while 10.0% were undecided about having more children.

Among currently married women aged 15 to 49 with two children, the percentage who wanted no more children or were sterilized increased to 63.3% in 2025.

This percentage climbed from 62.5% in 2022 and 60.1% in 2017.

Among those with three children, the percentage who wanted no more children slightly decreased to 78.4% in 2025, from 79.3% in 2022 and 81.0% in 2017.

Meanwhile, the desire to stop having more children generally increased as the number of living children grew, ranging from 6.4% among women with no children to 89.5% among women with six or more children who either wanted no more children or had been sterilized.

Cordillera Administrative Region (63.7%) recorded the highest percentage of women wanting no more children, while BARMM reported the lowest (29.7%).

Among women aged 15 to 49, about 34% use contraception, and about 26% use modern methods like pills.

For married women, modern contraceptive use is higher at about 45%, up from 42% in 2022.

The number of married women who need family planning but are not using it increased slightly to about 12.5% in 2025 from 12.4% in 2022.

The need was much higher among married teens (15 to 19 years old) at about 39%, women in BARMM at about 29%, and women with no formal education at about 24%.

Maternal care

The survey showed that antenatal care, or preventive healthcare for pregnant women and mothers, rose slightly to 87.3% in 2025 from 85.9% in 2022.

Meanwhile, tetanus toxoid protection dropped to 75.9% in 2025, continuing a downward trend from 78.4% in 2022 and 79.7% in 2017.

Mothers receiving a postnatal check within two days of birth slightly increased to 76.6%.

The lowest postnatal care rates were logged in BARMM (54.1%) and among the poorest wealth group (71.6%).

Health facility deliveries and skilled birth assistance both showed upward trends.

In 2025, institutional deliveries rose to 93.7%, from 88.4% in 2022.

Births assisted by a skilled provider also had 93.6%. Facility deliveries were recorded at 99.7% in Ilocos Region (99.7%), but it was the lowest in BARMM (68.6%).

Carried out every three years in the country, the 2025 NDSH aims to assist policymakers and program managers in designing and evaluating programs and strategies to improve the health and development of Filipinos. — VDV, GMA News