Women pursuing their personal goals is seen as a factor behind the declining fertility rate in the Philippines, according to the Commission on Population and Development (CPD).
During the press conference of the 10th National Population Health and Environment, CPD Deputy Executive Director Lolito Tacardon was asked why some women are no longer getting pregnant.
Citing the 2024 Census of Population, Tacardon stated that 16 out of 82 provinces in the country experienced a decline in their annual Population Growth Rate (PGR) from 2015 to 2020 to 2022-2024.
He also pointed out the data of Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) where the country’s PGR slowed down from 1.6% five years ago (2015 to 2020) to 0.8% a year ago (2020-2024). In a statement released on Thursday, the CPD said that the slowdown in the growth rate may be attributed to three factors: Declining fertility and birth rate, high mortality during the Covid-19 pandemic, and migration activity.
‘The PIDS [Philippine Institute for Development Studies] conducted a study using the trends and patterns from the series of national demographic and health surveys,’ Tacardon said.
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‘They found out that the most significant factor related to fertility decline is the improvement of the socio-economic condition of women,’ he noted.
‘As they improve their education, income, there’s tendency for them to prefer [a smaller] number of children and delay their fertility[-related plans],’ Tacardon added.
Tacardon also compared the study to the one they conducted during the pandemic.
He said a change in preference was observed among young people, as most of them tend to delay pregnancy or the formation of a family ‘because they want to pursue personal goals.’
In a March 2025 statement, the CPD said that women who have completed college are at 14% compared to men at 10%.
It added that the women’s completion rate for secondary education is 84%, slightly higher than the men’s 81%. Aside from this, Tacardon said that the increasing number of women using contraceptive or family planning methods contribute to the declining fertility rate.
The CPD previously said that more than 8.5 million Filipino women are currently using family planning methods, which is higher than the 8.3 million figure in 2022.
CPD also said that pills remain the most popular method of modern family planning, with 34% of current users, followed by injectables at 20%, while implants posed the highest increase in number among users at 24%.
Ageing population
In a statement released on Thursday, the CPD stated that with the declining fertility rate in the country, the population may approach the ageing phase by 2030.
During that time, the elders who are 60 years old will comprise 11% of the population, and 65 years olds and above will be approximately 7% of the population.
The CPD noted that this was projected by the PSA based on the 2020 population and will be validated once the population age group for 2024 is released.
‘With the declining fertility rate, and as projected by the PSA, the growth rate of the working age population will still be more significant than among the older persons,’ CPD explained.