Literacy rate in the Philippines improves to 97.0 percent

1. Based on the 2020 Census of Population and Housing (2020 CPH), of the 97,600,336 household population five years old and over, 94,627,566 persons (97.0%) were literate. This translates to a 1.2 percentage point improvement from the 85,953,030 persons (95.8%) that was recorded in 2015. (Figure 1)

2. In the 2020 CPH and 2015 Census of Population (2015 POPCEN), a person is considered literate if he/she is able to read and write a simple message in any language or dialect.

3. Literacy rate in 2020 was slightly higher among females (97.1%) than among males (96.8%). The same trend was observed in 2015. (Figure 1)

Literacy rate is highest in the National Capital Region

4. Among the 17 administrative regions, the National Capital Region (NCR) posted the highest literacy rate at 98.9 percent. Aside from the NCR, seven other regions had a literacy rate higher than the national rate (97.0%), namely: Region I – Ilocos Region (98.6%), Region IV-A CALABARZON (98.5%), Region III – Central Luzon (98.3%), Region II – Cagayan Valley (98.0%), Region VI – Western Visayas (97.7%), Region V – Bicol Region (97.4%), and Region VII – Central Visayas (97.1%). Meanwhile, the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) had the lowest literacy rate at 86.4 percent. (Table 1)

More females than males attain higher levels of education

5. In the 2020 CPH, the highest educational attainment was asked for all persons aged five years and over. The census revealed that38.6 percent had reached or completed at most high school or secondary level (graduate: 21.7%; undergraduate: 16.8%), 29.5 percent had reached or completed at most elementary level (graduate: 9.5%; undergraduate: 20.0%), and 23.4 percent had reached or completed at most college level (graduate: 13.5%; undergraduate: 10.0%). Meanwhile, 0.3 percent had reached or completed post baccalaureate level. (Table 2 and Figure 2)

6. There were more females (25.6%) than males (21.3%) among those with college or academic degrees. Similarly, more females (0.4%) than males (0.3%) had completed post baccalaureate courses. (Table 2)

About two in every three children aged 5 to 9 years has elementary education under the K to 12 Curriculum

7. Nearly two-thirds (65.6%) of the 11,266,823 children aged 5 to 9 years had reached or completed at most elementary education under the K to 12 Curriculum; 21.9 percent had reached or completed at most Early Childhood Education; and 11.5 percent had no grade completed. (Table 3)

8. On the other hand, about three-fifths (58.3%) of the 11,080,715 children aged 10 to 14 years had reached or completed at most elementary education under the K to 12 Curriculum, while 40.1 percent had reached Junior High School (JHS) which is composed of Grades 7 to 10 under the new K to 12 Curriculum. (Table 3)

9. Moreover, 49.3 percent of the 10,459,186 household population aged 15 to 19 years had reached or completed at least JHS while 29.1 percent reached or completed at most Senior High School (SHS). (Table 3)

10. Of the household population aged 20 to 24 years, 47.3 percent had reached or completed at most college education. (Table 3)

Academic track is the most preferred field of specialization among females who reached or completed at most Senior High School

11. Senior High School (SHS) in the Philippines, under the new K to 12 Curriculum is composed of two years (Grades 11 and 12) of specialized upper secondary education. Under this program, students may choose a specialization among the four career tracks, namely: Academic; Arts and Design; Technical-Vocational-Livelihood (TVL); and Sports.

12. Of the 37,678,856 household population aged five years and over who had reached or completed at most high school education, 3,672,265 persons (9.7%) had reached or completed at most SHS under the K to 12 Curriculum while 10,054,271 persons (26.7%) had reached or completed at most JHS under the K to 12 Curriculum. On the other hand, 23,857,805 persons (63.3%) had reached or completed at most high school under the Old Curriculum.

13. Moreover, approximately two in every three (66.4%) of the 3,672,265 household population aged five years and over who had reached or completed at most SHS had chosen Academic Track; 28.5 percent had chosen TVL Track; 0.2 percent had chosen Arts and Design Track, while 0.1 percent had chosen Sports Track.

14. Among the 2,439,091 students who had chosen the Academic Track, 54.3 percent were females while 45.7 percent were males. There were also more females (52.1%) than males (47.9%) who took up the Arts and Design Track. On the other hand, more males (55.5%) than females (44.5%) chose TVL Track, as well as the Sports Track (65.1% for males and 34.9% for females). (Figure 3)

About one in every six college graduates has a degree in Education Science

15. There were 13,128,017 graduates of college based on the 2020 CPH. The top five most popular courses among college graduates were: Education Science (17.6% of college graduates); Management and Administration (15.1%); Database and Network Design and Administration (6.6%); Nursing and Midwifery (6.4%); Hotel, Restaurants, and Catering (5.6%). (Figure 4)

Males prefer Management and Administration courses; females opt for Education Science courses

16. The three most popular courses attended or completed by the 5,748,694 male academic degree holders were: Management and Administration (11.9%); Education Science (8.7%); and Database and Network Design and Administration (8.6%). (Table 4)

17. On the other hand, among the 7,379,323 female college graduates, the three most popular academic degrees courses were: Education Science (24.5%); Management and Administration (17.5%); and Nursing and Midwifery (8.7%). (Table 4)

More females than males pursue post baccalaureate education

18. Among the 327,063 persons who had reached or completed at most post baccalaureate level of education (master’s and doctorate degrees), more than three in every five (61.7% or 201,716) were females while 125,347 (38.3%) were males. (Table 5)

19. Education Science was the most common field among those who pursued post baccalaureate degrees, comprising 17.4 percent or 56,961 persons. It was followed by Medicine (16.8% or 54,950) and Management and Administration (11.2% or 36,773). (Table 5)

20. The most common post baccalaureate course among females was Education Science comprising 20.6 percent. On the other hand, the most common post baccalaureate course among males was Medicine comprising 18.2 percent. (Table 5)

The statistics presented in this Special Release were based on the information provided by the respondent or any responsible household member who provided answers to the questions and gave information about all the household members.

For the 2020 CPH, literacy and highest grade/year completed data of household members five years and over were collected by asking the respondents, “Can ___ read and write a simple message in any language or dialect?” and “What is the highest grade/year completed by ___?”

CLAIRE DENNIS S. MAPA, PhD
Undersecretary
National Statistician and Civil Registrar General