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Release Date :
Reference Number :
2023-70

Roman Catholics account for 78.8 percent of the household population

1. Of the 108,667,043 household population in 2020, nearly four fifths or 85,645,362 persons (78.8%) reported Roman Catholic as their religious affiliation. It was followed by Islam with 6,981,710 persons (6.4%), and Iglesia ni Cristo with 2,806,524 persons (2.6%). In 2015, these were also the top three religious affiliations in the country. Completing the top ten religious affiliations in 2020 are Seventh Day Adventist, and Aglipay (0.8% each); Iglesia Filipina Independiente (0.6%); Bible Baptist Church (0.5%); and United Church of Christ in the Philippines, Jehovah’s Witness, and Church of Christ (0.4% each). (Figure 1 and Table 1)

Figure 1. Top Three Religious Affiliation in the Philippines

Table 1. Religious Affiliation in the Philippines

Bicol Region has the highest proportion of household population with Roman Catholic as religion

2. Of the 17 regions in the country, Region V - Bicol Region posted the highest proportion of Roman Catholics, comprising 93.5 percent of its household population. It was followed by Region VIII - Eastern Visayas with 92.3 percent, and Region VII - Central Visayas with 90.5 percent. Except for the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), which posted the lowest proportion of Roman Catholics at 5.3 percent, the proportion of Roman Catholics in the rest of the regions exceeded 50.0 percent – ranging from 54.1 percent in Region XII - SOCCSKSARGEN to 89.2 percent in Region IV-A - CALABARZON. (Table 2)

Table 2. Number and Proportion of the Household Population Who Reported Roman Catholic as Their Religious Affiliation by Region

City of Mandaue posts the highest proportion of Roman Catholics among the highly urbanized cities

3. Among the 33 highly urbanized cities (HUCs), the City of Mandaue posted the highest proportion of household population who reported Roman Catholic as their religious affiliation with 343,621 persons or 95.2 percent of its 361,051 household population. It was followed by three other HUCs in the Visayas, namely:  City of Cebu (94.7%), City of Tacloban (93.5%), and City of Lapu-Lapu (93.2%). Completing the top ten HUCs with the highest proportion of Roman Catholics are four HUCs in the National Capital Region (NCR), namely the cities of Navotas, Parañaque, Las Piñas, and Malabon; the City of Lucena in CALABARZON; and the City of Iloilo in Western Visayas. (Table 3)

Table 3. Top Ten Highly URbanized Cities with the Highest Proportion of Household Population

Albay leads the provinces with the highest proportion of Roman Catholics

4. Among the provinces in the country, Albay had the highest proportion of household population who reported Roman Catholic as their religious affiliation with 1.32 million persons or 96.2 percent of the 1.37 million household population in the province. It was followed by Catanduanes (95.6%) and Eastern Samar (95.3%). Fourteen other provinces posted proportions higher than 90.0 percent. (Table 4)

5. In terms of number, the top three provinces with the highest number of Roman Catholics were Cebu (excluding its three HUCs) with 3.14 million persons, Batangas with 2.72 million persons, and Camarines Sur with 1.92 million persons. (Table 4)

Table 4. Provinces with at Least 90.0 Percent of the Household Population who Reported Roman Catholics

About 91 in every 100 residents in BARMM have Islam as religion

6. Islam was the most predominant religion in BARMM, accounting for 4.49 million persons or 90.9 percent of the 4.94 million household population in the region. It was followed by Region IX -  Zamboanga Peninsula with 18.2 percent, SOCCSKSARGEN with 15.8 percent, Region X - Northern Mindanao with 8.5 percent, and Region XI - Davao Region and MIMAROPA Region with 3.5 percent each. On the other hand, Region XIII - Caraga, which is also in Mindanao, registered a proportion of Islam of only 0.5 percent. The rest of the regions posted proportions ranging from 0.1 percent each in Bicol and Region VI - Western Visayas to 1.3 percent in the NCR. (Figure 2 and Table 5)

Figure 2. Proportion of the Household Population who Reported Islam as their Religious AffialiationTable 5. Number and Proportion of the Household Population who Reported Islam as their Religious Affialiation

Tawi-Tawi has the highest proportion of Islam among the provinces

7. Of all the provinces in the country, Tawi-Tawi registered the highest proportion of the household population who reported Islam as their religion with 426,403 persons or 97.2 percent of the 438,545 household population in the province. All the other provinces in BARMM registered proportions higher than 89.0 percent, namely: Interim province in BARMM with 96.3 percent; Sulu with 95.2 percent; Lanao del Sur with 94.7 percent; Basilan with 89.9 percent, and Maguindanao with 83.5 percent. (Table 6)

8. Moreover, five other provinces in Mindanao (Lanao del Norte, Sultan Kudarat, Cotabato, Zamboanga Sibugay, and Sarangani) and one province in the MIMAROPA Region (Palawan) posted double-digit proportion of the household population who reported Islam as their religious affiliation. (Table 6)

Table 6. Provinces with Double Digit Proportion of Household Population

The statistics presented in this Press Release were based on the information provided by the respondent pertaining to all members of the household.

In the 2020 Census of Population and Housing, data on the Religious Affiliation of all household members were collected by asking the respondent, “What is _____’s religious affiliation?”.

 

 

DENNIS S. MAPA, Ph.D.
Undersecretary
National Statistician and Civil Registrar General

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