The Filipino population is projected to reach 110.88 million by the end of 2021, the Commission on Population and Development (POPCOM) said Wednesday.
This is an increase of about 1.4 million from the 109.48-million Filipino population at the onset of 2020.
"Our population next year will grow by a percentage of 1.31 and this is a continuing decline... Before, it was 1.68% in 2016," said POPCOM executive director Juan Antonio Perez III in an online press conference.
Nonetheless, the figure could further reach 111.1 million if the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, such as the disrupted family planning services, would be considered.
"About 250,000 might be added to our birth rate," Perez said.
The number of women of reproductive age or those 15-49 years old will increase by 337,193 next year.
“With the increasing proportion of Filipino women of childbearing age, there is a need to intensify actions to ensure their access to family planning information and services to prevent unplanned pregnancies, especially within the context of the pandemic," the POPCOM chief said.
Working population
The most notable increase in the Filipino population next year would be among the working age or those between 15 to 64 years old, which would reach 71.28 million — a million higher compared to this year.
This age group would make up 64.15% of the entire Philippine population.
According to POPCOM, this implies the need for the country to create at least a half a million new jobs next year, posing a huge challenge for the labor sector in the midst of the pandemic.
“The increasing working age population presents a prospect for economic gain because of potentially greater income and productivity it can generate. This is what we call an opportunity for demographic dividend," Perez said.
To reap economic benefits of this demographic dividend in the next five years, the members of the working population must be healthy, educated, skilled and gainfully employed. Otherwise, they can become dependents on the income of the family and on government services, he added.
Meanwhile, the number of senior citizens in the country will also exceed 10 million for the first time in 2021. They will comprise 9.07% of the population.
"They're not working, they are belonging to the dependent population together with the 0-14 age group," Perez said.
POPCOM’s estimates for 2021 are based on geometric-method projections using the last population census in 2015 by the Philippine Statistics Authority. —KBK, GMA News
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