Philippines' fertility rate drops in

2022 —PopCom

The Philippines’ fertility rate has plummeted to less than two offspring per
woman, the Commission on Population and Development  (PopCom) has
said.

PopCom made the announcement as the United Nations officially marked

the day the global population reached eight billion.

According to Maki Pulido’s report on “24 Oras” on Tuesday, the sharp

decline in fertility — or the number of offspring given birth by women who
have the capacity to bear children — fell from an average of three babies per
woman (2.7) aged 15 to 49 years old in 2017 to less than two for every
mother this year (1.9).

“Historically, five-year interval mga percentage points lang po ang

ibinababa niyan. So noong 2017 to 2022 period, 'yan po yung nakitaan natin
ng almost one child na pagbaba,” PopCom-National Capital Region director
Lolito Tacardon said.

The commission attributed the drop in fertility rate to various factors

including women's empowerment and the easier access of Filipinos to
family planning and birth control.

“The fact na tumaas po yung prevalence of family planning methods

actually it's indicative of 'yung kakayahang mag-decision ng mga
kababaihan,” Tacardon said.

The data on fertility rate was a result of the Philippine Statistics Authority’s
(PSA) National Health Demographic Survey (NDHS) 2022, according
PopCom.

"The survey also disclosed that the Philippines’ total fertility rate (TRF) has
been on a downward trend since the 1970s, which was at 6 children per
woman.  However, the decline from 2017 to 2022 was the sharpest ever
recorded," PopCom said.
"Same survey revealed that 1 in 2 currently married women said they no
longer desire more children, while 17% want to delay their next childbirths
for 2 or more years," it added.

Tacardon noted that the Philippines’ latest TFR "is now comparable to those
of upper middle-income countries’ 1.8 children and Thailand at 1.5
children."

"In the ASEAN region, the Philippines has now the third-lowest after
Singapore’s 1.1 children. It is lower than the Asian average of 2.2, and is
comparable to Latin America’s and the Caribbean’s, which is at 2.0
children. The Philippines, however, has lower fertility levels than Indonesia,
Vietnam and Malaysia," he said.

Tacardon said that the significant decline in total fertility rate offers both an
opportunity, as well as a challenge.

“On one hand, this can be considered as a breakthrough for the country’s
programs on population and development as well as family planning, which
were instituted more than five decades ago," he said.

The PopCom official said that various sectoral developments should take
advantage of the "demographic opportunity to hasten socioeconomic
development."

“Focus should now be on ensuring that the quality and capacity of the
country’s human resources are enhanced. At the household level, lower
fertility also means greater opportunity for personal development of couples
and individuals, which can redound to more savings and investments," he
said.—LDF, GMA Integrated News

Tags: Fertility rate, Commission on Population and

Development, POPCOM