Surigao del Norte registered a total population of 481,416 persons as compared to 442,203 persons in 1995 Census of Population. This figure translated to an annual growth rate of 1.84 percent, which made Surigao del Norte the fastest growing province in the Caraga Region. The number of households also rose to 92,645, higher by 8,987 households compared to the 1995 figure. This gave an average household size of 5.19 persons, a slight decrease from 1995 (5.27 persons) and higher than the national average of five persons.

Table A.Total Population and Growth Rate by Province, Caraga: 1995 and 2000

Surigao City, the provincial capital, had a population of 118,534 comprising 24.62 percent of the total population of the province, had the largest population among the 27 municipalities in Surigao del Norte. Basilisa which comprised 5.50 percent had the second largest population. San Jose and Mainit followed with 5.30 percent and 4.86 percent, respectively. The other municipalities had a share of less than five percent each. The least populous was Burgos with 0.63 percent share.

Surigao del Norte ranked third in terms of population size in the Caraga Region, contributing 22.98 percent to the 2.1 million population in the region. At the national level, Surigao del Norte shared 0.63 percent to the total population of 76.5 million as recorded in the 2000 Census of Population and Housing.

Male population outnumbered their female counterparts with a sex ratio of 101.99 males for every 100 females. There were more males than females in the age group 0 to 49 years. On the contrary, there were more females than males in the age group 50 years and over.

Surigao del Norte had a median age of 20 years in the two censuses. The percentage of the total population belonging to the age group 0 to 14 years was 39.0 percent. The oldest group (65 years and over) accounted for 4.6 percent of the total population of the province. More than half (56.4 percent) of the population belonged to the economically active population aged 15 to 64 years.

The overall dependency ratio in 2000 was 77.25, a slight decrease in 1995 (77.62). This meant that for every 100 persons aged 15 to 64 years, there were about 77 dependents (69 persons aged 0 to 14 - young dependents; and 8 persons aged 65 years and over - old dependents).

About one out of every two persons 5 years old and over had completed elementary education. Twenty six percent had finished high school while 8.29 percent had attended college. Only 3.62 percent were academic degree holders. Males dominated the elementary level with 52.50 percent, while females dominated the higher levels of education from high school to post baccalaureate.

Majority of the population of Surigao del Norte were Surigaonons (75.9 percent). About 8.5 percent classified themselves as Cebuano and 5.3 percent as Boholano. Other ethnic groups included Waray (0.7 percent) and Hiligaynon (0.4 percent). The remaining 8.7 percent belonged to other ethnic groups.

The proportion of married population 10 years old and over (44.73 percent) was almost the same as that of the single persons (44.54 percent). The remaining 11.0 percent were either widowed, divorced, with other arrangements, or with unknown marital status.

There were 91,091 housing units in Surigao del Norte, of which 91,058 were occupied, or almost 100 percent occupancy rate. This registered an increase of 6.63 percentage points from 1990 and a ratio of 1.02 households per occupied housing unit or a ratio of 5.28 persons per occupied housing unit.

Most (95.8 percent) of the occupied housing units were single houses. About 62.0 percent needed no repair/minor repair and 31.4 percent were built from 1996 to 2000.

Majority of the households in Surigao del Norte still preferred to use cogon/nipa/anahaw (50.3 percent) as roof for their houses and wood (49.4 percent) as the walls. About two out of every five occupied housing units had roof made of galvanized iron (42.4 percent) and 19.6 percent had walls made of concrete/bricks/stone.
 

Table 1. Total Population Distribution of Top 10 Municipalities by Sex: Surigao del Norte, 2000

Table 2. Total Population by Age Group, Sex and Sex Ratio: Surigao del Norte, 2000

Table 3. Household Population 5 Years Old and Over by Highest Educational Attainment and Sex: Surigao del Norte, 2000

Table 4. Total Population 10 Years Old and Over by Age Group and Marital Status: Surigao del Norte, 2000

Table 5. Household Population by Ethnicity and Sex: Surigao del Norte, 2000

Table 6. Total Occupied Housing Units, Households, Household Population and Ratio of Households and Household Population to Occupied Housing Unit by Type of Building: Surigao del Norte, 2000