Image from Philippine News Agency
MANILA, Feb 25 (Xinhua): The number of registered live births in the Philippines continues to fall, according to Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) data released over the weekend.
In 2021, the agency said 1,364,739 live births were registered, equivalent to a crude birth rate of 12.4 or 12 births per 1,000 population.
"The number of registered live births showed a generally decreasing trend," the PSA said, adding that a decrease of 23.8 per cent in the registered live births was noted in the past 10 years, from 1,790,367 in 2012 to 1,364,739 in 2021.
The PSA noted the highest rate of decline in 2021, with 10.7 per cent.
On average, the PSA said 3,739 babies were born daily, translating to 156 babies born per hour or approximately three babies born per minute.
In 2021, the PSA said more males were born than females.
The data showed that 711,434 or 52.1 per cent were born male while 653,305 or 47.9 per cent were born female or a sex ratio at birth of 109 males per 100 females.
According to the PSA, more than half of the babies were born to unwed mothers. "More than half (779,154 or 57.1 per cent) of the total registered live births in 2021 were born out of wedlock," said the agency.
The data also showed that mothers aged 20-24 had the highest number of illegitimate babies in 2021, contributing 250,999 or 32.2 percent of the total illegitimate births that year, followed by mothers aged 25-29, who contributed 204,525 or 26.2 per cent of the total illegitimate births in 2021. - Xinhua
