Fertility Indicators in the Philippines

(2020 Census of Population and Housing)

Date of Release: 25 July 2023

Reference No. 2023-55

A. Children Ever Born Alive

Ever-married women aged 45 to 49 years have an average of three

children

1. The Philippines had 17,929,241 ever-married women (EMW) aged

15 to 49 years according to the 2020 Census of Population and Housing
(2020 CPH). These women have born 2.2 children on average. As
expected, EMW above 40 years had much higher mean children ever
born (CEB) than younger women. Women in the country would have
had 3.1 children, on average, by the time they have reached the end
of their reproductive or childbearing years. (Table 1)

Table 1. Ever-Married Women Aged 15-49 Years, Number of Children Ever Born Alive
to These Women, and Mean Children Ever Born by Age Group: Philippines, 2020

Number Total Mean

Age Group of Ever-Married Number Children
of Women Women Aged of Children Ever Born
15-49 Years Ever Born
Total 17,929,241 38,737,731 2.2
15 - 19 613,382 377,100 0.6
20 - 24 2,141,411 2,334,966 1.1
25 - 29 3,183,209 5,005,225 1.6
30 - 34 3,305,209 6,790,877 2.1
35 - 39 3,153,660 7,885,787 2.5
40 - 44 2,951,625 8,446,763 2.9
45 - 49 2,580,744 7,897,013 3.1
Note: Ever-married women refers to females aged 15-49 years who have been married (including
those in consensual union) at least once in their lives although their current marital status
may not be “married.”
Source: Philippine Statistics Authority, 2020 Census of Population and Housing

PSA Complex, East Avenue, Diliman, Quezon City, Philippines 1101

Telephone: (632) 8938-5267
www.psa.gov.ph
Women in BARMM post the highest average of children ever born
2. Across the country, eight regions had a mean CEB higher than the
national figure. The Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao
(BARMM) was the highest among these regions with 2.9 children,
followed by Region V-Bicol Region (2.7 children), Region VIII-Eastern
Visayas (2.6 children), MIMAROPA Region and Region XIII-Caraga
(2.5 children each), Region IX-Zamboanga Peninsula and Region X-
Northern Mindanao (2.4 children), and Region XII-SOCCSKSARGEN
(2.3 children). (Table 2 and Figure 1)

3. Meanwhile, women in the National Capital Region (NCR) had the

lowest mean CEB of 1.7 children. (Table 2 and Figure 1)

4. Children ever born alive includes (i) children born alive but no longer
surviving and (ii) children still living who may be residing with the
household or living elsewhere at the time of the census. The count of
the CEB includes those born to women during their present marriage,
during their previous marriage, and those born outside of marriage.

Table 2. Ever-Married Women Aged 15-49 Years, Number of Children Ever Born Alive
to These Women, and Mean Children Ever Born by Region: Philippines, 2020

Number Total
of Ever- Number Mean
Region Married of Children Children
Women Aged Ever Born Ever Born
15-49 Years Alive
Philippines 17,929,241 38,737,731 2.2
National Capital Region (NCR) 2,375,162 4,105,956 1.7
Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) 291,663 631,324 2.2
I – Ilocos Region 841,949 1,748,533 2.1
II – Cagayan Valley 630,190 1,339,087 2.1
III – Central Luzon 2,108,449 4,255,146 2.0
IV-A – CALABARZON 2,819,820 5,568,791 2.0
MIMAROPA Region 539,345 1,330,633 2.5
V – Bicol Region 892,325 2,408,584 2.7
VI – Western Visayas 1,196,355 2,594,999 2.2
VII – Central Visayas 1,308,360 2,874,068 2.2
VIII – Eastern Visayas 682,872 1,746,751 2.6
IX – Zamboanga Peninsula 610,430 1,460,230 2.4
X – Northern Mindanao 821,086 1,929,594 2.4
XI – Davao Region 895,946 1,869,082 2.1
XII – SOCCSKSARGEN 746,732 1,680,244 2.3
XIII – Caraga 445,204 1,098,650 2.5
Bangsamoro Autonomous Region
in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) 723,354 2,096,075 2.9
Source: Philippine Statistics Authority, 2020 Census of Population and Housing

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 Figure 1. Mean Children Ever Born to Ever-Married Women
Aged 15 to 49 Years by Region: Philippines, 2020

Source: Philippine Statistics Authority, 2020 Census of Population and Housing

B. Children Still Living

Women aged 40 to 49 years have an average of three living children

5. The mean number of living children for all women aged 15 to 49 years
increases as women get older. On average, women in the country had
2.5 children still living, aggregating to 38.07 million children. (Table 3)

Table 3. Ever-Married Women Aged 15-49 Years, Number of Children Still Living
to These Women, and Mean Number of Children Still Living by Age Group:
Philippines, 2020

Number Total Mean

Age Group of Ever-Married Number Number
of Women Women Aged of Children of Children
15-49 Years Old Still Living Still Living
Total 15,105,912 38,065,003 2.5
15 - 19 318,017 372,664 1.2
20 - 24 1,533,671 2,307,106 1.5
25 - 29 2,548,202 4,942,178 1.9
30 - 34 2,833,868 6,698,243 2.4
35 - 39 2,822,021 7,763,333 2.8
40 - 44 2,695,729 8,281,166 3.1
45 - 49 2,354,406 7,700,313 3.3
Source: Philippine Statistics Authority, 2020 Census of Population and Housing

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C. Children Ever Born Alive in the Past 12 Months

Ever-married women aged 25 to 29 years posts the highest number

of children ever born alive in the past year
6. About 1.82 million births were recorded to ever-married women aged
15 to 49 years who had children in the previous year, that is, from
01 May 2019 to 30 April 2020. (Table 4)

7. The proportion of children ever born alive in the past year peaked at
25 to 29 years of age with a total number of 427,640 births. Meanwhile,
ever-married women aged 45 to 49 years old reported the lowest
number of children ever born in the past year with 110,945 births.
(Table 4)

Table 4. Number and Percent Share of Children Ever Born in the Past Year
by Age Group of Ever-Married Women Aged 15-49 Years: Philippines, 2020

Number Children Ever Born

Age Group of Ever-Married in the Past Year
of Women Women Aged
15-49 Years Number Percent

Total 15,105,912 1,815,776 100.0

15 - 19 318,017 113,239 6.2
20 - 24 1,533,671 356,548 19.6
25 - 29 2,548,202 427,640 23.6
30 - 34 2,833,868 365,170 20.1
35 - 39 2,822,021 267,562 14.7
40 - 44 2,695,729 174,672 9.6
45 – 49 2,354,406 110,945 6.1
Note: Details may not add up to 100.0 percent due to rounding off.
Source: Philippine Statistics Authority, 2020 Census of Population and Housing

D. Age at First Marriage

Median age at first marriage among ever-married women increased

by 0.1 year
8. In 2020, the median age at first marriage among ever-married women
aged 15 to 49 years was 21.6 years, an increase of 0.1 year compared
with the 21.5 years posted in 2010. The age at first marriage refers to
the age of the woman when she first got married or lived in a
consensual union. (Table 5)

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9. By age group, the median age at first marriage of women aged
15 to 19 years was 17.3 years. It increased to 19.6 years among
women aged 20 to 24 years and further to 21.0 years among women
aged 25 to 29 years. Among women aged 30 years and over, the
median age at first marriage averaged at about 23.0 years. The same
trend but with slightly lower values were observed in 2010. (Table 5)

Table 5. Median Age at First Marriage of Ever-Married Women Aged 15 to 49 Years

by Age Group: Philippines, 2020 and 2010

Median Age at First Marriage

Age Group of Women
2020 2010
Total 21.6 21.5
15 - 19 17.3 17.5
20 - 24 19.6 19.7
25 - 29 21.0 21.4
30 - 34 22.2 22.2
35 - 39 22.8 22.4
40 - 44 22.7 22.2
45 - 49 23.0 22.4
Source: Philippine Statistics Authority, 2020 Census of Population and Housing

Region VI and NCR posts the highest median age at first marriage with
22.4 years

10. Among the 17 regions, six had a median age at first marriage higher
than the national figure of 21.6 years. These were Region VI-Western
Visayas and NCR with 22.4 years each, Region I-Ilocos Region and
Cordillera Administrative Region with 22.2 years each, and Region IV-
A-CALABARZON and Region VII-Central Visayas with 22.0 years
each. (Table 6)

11. Meanwhile, BARMM posted the lowest median age at first marriage
among regions, with 20.3 years. (Table 6)

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 Table 6. Median Age at First Marriage of Ever-Married Women Aged 15 to 49 Years
by Region: Philippines, 2020

Median Age at First

Region Marriage
(In years)
Philippines 21.6
National Capital Region (NCR) 22.4
Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) 22.2
I – Ilocos Region 22.2
II - Cagayan Valley 21.0
III - Central Luzon 21.4
IV-A - CALABARZON 22.0
MIMAROPA Region 20.9
V – Bicol Region 21.5
VI - Western Visayas 22.4
VII – Central Visayas 22.0
VIII - Eastern Visayas 21.0
IX - Zamboanga Peninsula 20.7
X - Northern Mindanao 20.9
XI - Davao Region 21.0
XII - SOCCSKSARGEN 20.8
XIII - Caraga 21.0
Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) 20.3
Source: Philippine Statistics Authority, 2020 Census of Population and Housing

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The statistics presented in this press release are based on the information
provided by the respondent or any responsible household member who
answered the questions and gave correct information about all the
household members.

The data on fertility indicators were collected for all females aged 15 to 49
years from a sample 20 percent of the total number of households using
CPH Form 3 (Sample Household Questionnaire) and CPH Form 7 (Self-
Administered Questionnaire for Sample Household):

a. Number of Children Born Alive (“How many children have been born
alive to ____?”);
b. Number of Children Still Living (“From among the children who have
been born alive to ____, how many are still living?”);
c. Number of Children Born Alive from May 1, 2019, to April 30, 2020
(“From among the children who have been born alive to ____, how
many were born alive from May 1, 2019, to April 30, 2020?”); and
d. Age at First Marriage (“What was ____’s age at first marriage?”)

CLAIRE DENNIS S. MAPA, PhD

Undersecretary
National Statistician and Civil Registrar General

MEPE/FCV/JPC/RML/MAGF

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