Philippine population to reach 105.76 million in 2017

The Philippine population will reach 105,758,850 by the end of December 2017 due to women's high fertility rates, the Commission of Population said on Thursday.

The population will continue to increase next year and the number of women of reproductive age (15 to 49 years old) will reach 27,293,422, said the commission in a statement.

"These women are usually the beneficiaries of Reproductive Health services under the Responsible Parenthood and Reproductive Health Law," the commission said.

The commission also projected that the number of adolescent girls (10 to 19 years old) will also increase to 10,080,824 in 2017.

"Based on the 2014 data from the Philippine Statistics Authority, it is expected that over 200,000 adolescent girls will give birth in 2017," it said.

"The figures for women of reproductive age and adolescent girls continue to be the highest numbers on record," the commission said.

"This trend is expected to continue up to 2022 when the numbers of women of reproductive age are expected to peak at 29.1 million and adolescent girls at 11.3 million," the commission said.

The commission also projected that the number of schoolchildren will increase to about 31.5 million, the labor force to 66.7 million and the population of over 65 years old to 5.2 million.

Based on the number of births in 2014 reported by the Philippine Statistics Authority, the commission said there were 3.33 Filipinos born every minute that year. "More males than females were born with 1.02 males born for every female."

Based on projections of 1,691,897 births in 2017, the commission said the number of Filipinos born per minute will go down to 3.22 births per minute next year. Endit