Yvette Collymore
Former Senior Editor
Rapid Population Growth, Crowded Cities Present Challenges in the Philippines
(June 2003) Fast-paced population growth and rampant urbanization represent some of the major population concerns in the Philippines, a country of 80 million people where the average number of children born to a woman is close to four and where a sizeable 37 percent of the population is under age 15.
These issues represent major stumbling blocks in efforts to reduce poverty and improve living standards in the Philippines. In 2000, roughly one-third of the population (nearly 27 million Filipinos) lacked the roughly US$275 required annually to satisfy food and non-food basic needs, the National Statistical Coordination Board (NSCB) estimates. Such poverty, exacerbated by prolonged El Niño-induced drought and the residual effects of the 1997/1998 financial crisis that shook the region, limits the ability of the poor to gain access to health and other services.
The Philippines is also among the world’s fastest urbanizing countries, and overcrowded cities present their own challenges. With some 47 percent of the population living in urban areas, compared with 31 percent in Thailand and 16 percent in Cambodia, the country has more than 200 urban areas that have populations of more than 50,000, notes the country’s Commission on Population (POPCOM). By World Bank estimates, these urban centers could expand to some 600 by 2020, largely because high levels of rural poverty are pushing people into the cities.
The concentration of economic development in relatively few urban areas and rapid population growth throughout the country are other factors contributing to urban sprawl. Compared with other countries in the region, the Philippines is experiencing rapid population growth. The rate of natural increase — the birth rate minus the death rate — is 2.2 percent, compared with 0.8 percent in Thailand and Singapore and 1.9 percent in Malaysia.
In addition to fleeing to urban commercial centers, many people leave the country for work. An average of 2,500 Filipinos leave the country every day for work abroad, and the Philippines is second only to Mexico as an exporter of labor. An estimated 10 percent of the country’s population, or nearly 8 million people, are overseas Filipino workers distributed in 182 countries, according to POPCOM. That is in addition to the estimated 3 million migrants who work illegally abroad. According to official statistics of the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration, Filipino workers abroad sent home US$6.8 billion in 1999 alone. A large proportion of these remittances come from women who are the majority of overseas Filipino workers.
| Demographic Variable | Data |
|---|---|
| Population mid-2002 | 80,000,000 |
| Rate of Natural Increase (birth rate minus death rate, expressed as a percentage) | 2.2 |
| Population Change 2002-2050 (projected %) | 82 |
| Population 2025 (projected) | 115,500,000 |
| Population 2050 (projected) | 145,700,000 |
| Infant Mortality Rate (infant deaths per 1,000 live births) | 26 |
| Total Fertility Rate (average number of children born to a woman during her lifetime) | 3.5 |
| Population Under Age 15 (%) | 37 |
| Population Over Age 65 (%) | 4 |
| Life Expectancy at Birth, Both Sexes (years) | 68 |
| Life Expectancy at Birth, Males (years) | 65 |
| Life Expectancy at Birth, Females (years) | 71 |
| Urban Population (%) | 47 |
| Population Ages 15-49 with HIV/AIDS at End of 2001 (%) | <0.5> |
| Contraceptive Use Among Married Women 15-49, All Methods (%) | 47 |
| Contraceptive Use Among Married Women 15-49, Modern Methods (%) | 32 |
| Government View of Birth Rate | too high |
| GNI PPP per Capita, 2000 (US$) | $4,220 |
| Women Ages 15-49, 2002 | 20,100,000 |
| Women Ages 15-49, 2020 (projected) | 27,800,000 |
| Births Attended by Skilled Personnel (%) | 56 |
| Maternal Deaths per 100,000 Live Births | 240 |
| Abortion Policy, 2000 | Prohibited, or permitted only to save a woman’s life. |
| Women Among Population 15-49 with HIV/AIDS (%) | 42 |
| Literacy Rate (ages 15+), 2000, Female (%) | 95 |
| Literacy Rate (ages 15+), 2000, Male (%) | 96 |
| Secondary School Enrollment, 1985, Female (%) | 65 |
| Secondary School Enrollment, 1985, Male (%) | 64 |
| Secondary School Enrollment, 1993-1997, Female (%) | 78 |
| Secondary School Enrollment, 1993-1997, Male (%) | 77 |
| Labor Force Participation (ages 15-64), 1980, Female (%) | 46 |
| Labor Force Participation (ages 15-64), 2000, Female (%) | 51 |
| Labor Force Participation (ages 15-64), 2000, Male (%) | 83 |
| Women as Percent Ministerial and Sub-Ministerial Officials, 1998 | 17 |
| Population Ages 10-24, 2000 | 24,000,000 |
| Population Ages 10-24, 2025 | 27,600,000 |
| Population Ages 10-24 (% of total) 2000 | 32 |
| Average Age at First Marriage, All Women* | 22 |
| Percent TFR Attributed to Births by Ages 15-19 | 6 |
| Population Ages 15-19, 2000 | 7,900,000 |
| Illiterate Males Ages 15-19 (%) | 4 |
| Illiterate Females Ages 15-19 (%) | 1 |
| Births Attended by Trained Personnel, Single Females Ages 15-19 (%) | 51 |
| Contraceptive Use Among Married Females, Any Method, Ages 15-19 (%)* | 18 |
| Contraceptive Use Among Married Females, Modern Method, Ages 15-19 (%)* | 11 |
*May include formal and/or informal unions.
Sources: Carl Haub, 2002 World Population Data Sheet (Washington, DC: PRB, 2002); Justine Sass and Lori Ashford, 2002 Women of Our World (Washington, DC: PRB, 2002); PRB, The World’s Youth 2000 (Washington, DC: PRB, 2000). All these data can be easily found in PRB’s DataFinder.
Yvette Collymore is senior editor at PRB.
