Thirteen births per thousand population

In 2022, a total of 1,455,393 live births were registered in the country, which is equivalent to a crude birth rate (CBR) of 13.0 or 13 births per thousand population.¹ 

In the past ten years, the number of registered live births showed a decrease of 17.4 percent from 1,761,602 in 2013 to 1,455,393 in 2022. Compared with the number  from the preceding year when the pandemic was still prevailing, it indicated an increase of 6.6 percent from 1,364,739 in 2021. (Figure 1 and Table 1)

On the average, 3,987 babies were born daily, which translates to 166 babies born per hour or approximately three (3) babies born per minute. (Table 1)

More males were born than females

In 2022, more males (758,038 or 52.1% share) were born than females (697,355 or 47.9% share), resulting in a sex ratio at birth of 109 males per 100 females. (Figure 2 and Table 2)

Highest occurrence of births recorded in CALABARZON

Areas with relatively large population reported the highest number of live births by place of occurrence and by usual residence of mother. Of the total live births, 56.5 percent were born in Luzon, 18.7 percent in Visayas, and 24.8 percent in Mindanao. Among regions, CALABARZON recorded the highest number of birth occurrences with 14.1 percent share. This was followed by National Capital Region (NCR) (11.8% share) and Central Luzon (11.7% share). The same regions recorded the highest number of live births by usual residence of mothers, collectively sharing 37.6 percent or about two in every five babies born in 2022. (Figure 3 and Table 2)

Most number of births registered in September

In 2022, most registered births occurred in September at 143,235 or 9.8 percent of the total births in the country. It was followed by the months of October (9.5% share) and  November (9.3% share). On the other hand, the month of February had the least number of births (6.9% share). (Figure 4 and Table 3)

In terms of daily average, September recorded the highest with an average of 4,775 births per day, which translates to 199 births per hour. On the contrary, March had the lowest daily average number of births with 3,520, equivalent to 147 births per hour. (Table 3)

Nine in ten birth deliveries were medically attended

Of the total number of births in the country, 93.4 percent were attended by health professionals (physician, midwife, or nurse). Majority of births were delivered by physicians (65.0% share), followed by midwives (26.5% share). On the other hand, 6.2 percent of births were delivered by a hilot/ traditional birth attendant. (Figure 5 and Table 4)

The number of births by place of occurrence and by usual residence of mother showed a remarkable proportion of births attended by health professionals in 16 regions. This is indicative of improving health services in terms of maternal and child health care. Thirteen regions had medically attended births higher than 90.0 percent. On the other hand, only three-fifths (66.4%) of the births that occurred in BARMM were medically attended while the rest were attended by traditional birth attendants—either hilot or unlicensed midwives, or other type of attendants. (Table 4) 

Nine in ten births delivered in health facilities

In 2022, nine out of 10 births were delivered in a health facility (92.3%), which was either a hospital, birthing clinic, lying in, outpatient care center, specialized care center, and the like. Only 7.3 percent of total births were delivered at home and 0.4 percent were delivered in other locations. (Figure 6)

About nine in ten newborn babies weighed more than 2,500 grams

Birth weight serves as a measure of the nutritional status of newborns. Low birth weight is defined by the World Health Organization (WHO) as weight at birth less than 2,500 grams (5.5 lbs.).

Of the total number of newborn babies, 86.7 percent were above the defined low birth weight.

The median birth weight was about 3,000 grams. In other words, half of the newborn babies weighed at least 3,000 grams.

Moreover, most babies or about four in ten (39.1%) weighed between 2,500 to 2,999 grams, while 2,060 babies (0.1% share) were born weighing less than 1,000 grams. (Figure 7)

Majority of babies were born to mothers aged 25-29 years old

In 2022, majority of registered births had parents aged 25-29 years (406,767 or 27.9% for mothers while 376,083 or 25.8% for fathers). However, babies born to adolescent mothers (150,138 or 10.3% share), those younger than 20 years old, were more than three times of babies sired by adolescent fathers (49,434 or 3.4%). (Figure 8 and Table 5)

The median age of mothers was 27 years old while the median age for fathers was 30 years old. This means that half of the births in 2022 were to mothers and fathers who were at least 27 years old and 30 years old, respectively. 

“High-risk” age of pregnancy covers the age group 17 years old and younger (3.9% share), and 35 years old and over (16.0% share). This is because childbearing in these age groups is more likely to have complications during pregnancy and labor that may result in higher morbidity and mortality to both mother and child.

About 10.1 percent of the registered births in 2022 were to mothers aged 15-19 years. Moreover, the adolescent birth rate,2 or the number of births to women ages 15-19 per 1,000 women in that age group, was 29 per 1,000 women in 2022. 

More than half of babies were born to unwed mothers

More than half (844,909 or 58.1%) of the total registered live births in 2022 were born out of wedlock. The three regions that recorded the highest number of illegitimate children based on usual residence of the mother were CALABARZON (16.4% share), NCR (13.2% share), and Central Luzon (12.0% share). (Figure 9 and Table 6)

Moreover, 12 regions reported at least half of its registered births in 2022 as illegitimate, led by NCR (69.8%), Eastern Visayas (69.6%), and CALABARZON (64.0%). On the other hand, BARMM recorded the highest proportion of legitimate births at 95.2 percent. (Table 6)

Mothers aged 20-24 years had the highest number of illegitimate babies in 2022, contributing 263,252 or 31.2 percent of the total illegitimate births that year. This was followed by mothers aged 25-29 years, who contributed 223,230 or 26.4 percent of the total illegitimate births in 2022. 

By age group of mothers, highest proportion of illegitimate births were to adolescent mothers aged under 15. Of the total number of babies born to adolescent mothers aged under 15, 95.1 percent were illegitimate. This was followed by births to adolescent mothers aged 15-19 years and mothers aged 20-24 years, with 90.0 percent and 76.4 percent, respectively. On the other hand, the least proportion of illegitimate babies (28.0%) were to mothers aged 45 years old and over. (Figure 10 and Table 7)

About 90 percent were registered on time

Timely registration refers to registration of the birth within 30 days of occurrence. In 2022, nine in every ten births were registered timely. 

The three regions that recorded the highest share in timely registered births in 2022 based on usual residence of mother were CALABARZON (14.7% share), Central Luzon (11.5% share), NCR and (11.4% share). CALABARZON and Central Luzon also recorded the highest number of late registered births followed by Western Visayas with 16.5 percent, 13.3 percent, and 11.4 percent respectively.  (Table 8)

Out of 17 regions, 11 had at least 90.0 percent of its births registered within the reglementary period. Ilocos Region had the highest proportion of timely registered births with 96.1 percent of its total registered births, followed by Cagayan Valley with 95.3 percent. On the other hand, BARMM recorded the highest proportion of late registered births at 26.8 percent, followed by Western Visayas (16.2% share). (Figure 11)

CLAIRE DENNIS S. MAPA, PhD

Undersecretary

National Statistician and Civil Registrar General

¹Population estimate used was taken from the updated population projections based on the 2015 Census of Population available at www.psa.gov.ph/statistics/census/projected-population

²Population estimate for females aged 15-19 years old used in the computation was from the 2015 census-based population projections available at https://psa.gov.ph/statistics/census/projected-population

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