Based on the preliminary results of the 2022 National Demographic and Health Survey (NDHS), the total fertility rate¹ (TFR) of Filipino women aged 15 to 49 years declined from 2.7 children per woman in 2017 to 1.9 children per woman in 2022. Hence, the Philippines is already below the replacement fertility level of 2.1 children per woman. By area of residence, women living in rural areas had slightly higher TFR of 2.2 children per woman as compared to women living in urban areas with 1.7 children per woman. (Figure 1)

In 2022, fertility is low among adolescents with 25 births per 1,000 women aged 15 to 19 years. It peaks at 105 births per 1,000 among women aged 25 to 29 years and then decreases thereafter. Generally, the fertility has been declining in all age groups since 2008, except in the younger and older women aged 15 to 19 and 45 to 49 years, respectively. Specifically, fertility rates for women aged 20 to 24 years steadily declined from 163 births per 1,000 women in 2008 to 84 births per 1,000 women in 2022. This was also observed in women aged 25 to 44 years. (Figure 2 and Table 1)

In the 2022 NDHS, women were asked whether they wanted more children and, if so, how long they would prefer to wait before the birth of the next child. About half (48.8%) of currently married women aged 15 to 49 years (including women who are sterilized or whose husbands are sterilized) want no more children. The percentage of women who want no more children increases with the number of living children, from 4.3 percent with no living children to 72.0 percent with six or more children. Around 13.9 percent of women want to have another child within the next two years and 17.4 percent want to wait at least two years before having another child. Moreover, less than one percent (0.2%) of women want another child but have not decided when, and 8.1 percent are undecided about having more children. (Figure 3 and Table 2)

The 2022 NDHS is the seventh Demographic and Health Survey conducted in the Philippines since 1993 as part of The DHS Program. Overall, 27,821 women aged 15-49 from 30,372 households were successfully interviewed in the 2022 NDHS. The 2022 NDHS provides estimates at the national level, for urban and rural areas, and for each of the 17 regions in the Philippines. A comprehensive analysis of the data will be presented in a final report in 2023.

The 2022 NDHS was implemented by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA). The funding for the 2022 NDHS was provided by the Government of the Philippines, while the provision of handheld tablets for data collection was supported by the Commission of Population and Development. ICF provided technical assistance through The DHS Program, a USAID-funded project providing support and technical assistance in the implementation of population and health surveys in countries worldwide.

Additional information about the 2022 NDHS may be obtained from the Philippine Statistics Authority, PSA Complex, East Avenue, Diliman, Quezon City, Philippines; Telephone: +63-(02)-462-6600; Email: info@psa.gov.ph; Internet: https://psa.gov.ph.

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

_{¹ The average number of children a woman would have by the end of her childbearing years if she bore children at the current age-specific fertility rates. Age-specific fertility rates are calculated for the 3-year period before the survey (NDHS), based on detailed pregnancy histories provided by women interviewed.}