Zambales: Dependency Ratio Down by Five Persons (Results from the 2000 Census of Population and Housing, NSO) | Philippine Statistics Authority

Release Date :

Wed, 05/29/2002 - 12:00

Reference Number :

2002-061

Annual population growth rate up by 2.32%

The province of Zambales registered a total population of 433,542 persons in the year 2000, up from 389,512 persons in 1995. This figure gave the province an average annual growth rate of 2.32 percent, an increase of 1.34 percentage points from the 1990 to 1995 period. The number of households was registered at 91,613, an increase of 10,695 households over the 1995 figure. This gave an average household size of 4.7 persons, a slight decrease from 1995 (4.8) and lower than the national average (five persons).

Subic was the largest municipality in terms of population size

Among the thirteen municipalities in Zambales, Subic, which comprised 14 percent of the total provincial population, was the largest in terms of population size. Next were Sta. Cruz (11 percent), Botolan (11 percent), Masinloc (9 percent). Iba, the provincial capital and Castillejos comprised 8 percent of the total population each. The rest of the municipalities had less than six percent share each.

Zambales ranked sixth in Region 3

Among the six provinces (Bataan, Bulacan, Nueve Ecija, Pampanga, Tarlac, Zambales), and two highly urbanized cities (Angeles City and Olongapo City) in Region 3, Zambales ranked sixth in terms of population size. This province contributed 5.4 percent to the 8 million population of the region. At the national level, Zambales shared 0.57 percent to the Philippine population of 76.5 million as recorded in the Census 2000.

Median age was 23 years

Zambales, had a median age of 23 years. This meant that in 2000 half of the population were below 23 years old. The median age in 1995 was 22 years

Male population outnumbered their female counterparts with a sex ratio of 102 males for every 100 females. There were more males than females in the age bracket 0 to 54 years. On the other hand, there were more females than males in the age group 55 years and over.

The overall dependency ratio in 2000 was 66

In 2000, the 0 to 14 age group made up about 35 percent of the total population while the population aged 65 years and above comprised 4.4 percent. The economically active population aged 15 to 64, thus made up 60 percent of the total population in Zambales.

The overall dependency ratio in 2000 was 66. This meant that for every 100 persons aged 15 to 64 years, there were about 66 dependents (59 persons aged 0 to 14 years - young dependents; and 7 persons aged 65 years old and over - old dependents). The 2000 ratio was lower by five persons than the ratio reported in 1995 (71.33).

Most were Tagalog

Most (37.84 percent) of the household population in Zambales classified themselves as Tagalog. About 27.5 percent considered themselves as Ilocano and 27.0 percent as Sambal/Zambal. Other ethnic groups included Aeta/Ayta (1.8 percent) and Cebuano (1.1 percent).

Lower proportion of married persons in 2000

Most (46.1 percent) of those who were 10 years old and over were married, lower by 2 percentage points compared to the 1995 figure of 48.1 percent. The proportion of single on the other hand, was 41.8 percent. The remaining twelve percent were either widowed, divorced/separated, with other type of arrangement or with unknown marital status.

Housing unit occupancy rate was almost 100%

There were 90,079 housing units in Zambales, of which 90,057 were occupied, or almost a hundred percent occupancy rate. This registered a ratio of 1.02 household per occupied housing units or a ratio of 4.81 persons per occupied housing units. Majority of occupied housing units were single houses (94.2 percent). Duplex and multi-unit residential houses accounted for only 3.02 percent and 1.41 percent, respectively.

(Sgd.) CARMELITA N. ERICTA
Administrator

ZAMBALES

Zambales is located at the western coast of Central Luzon. It has common boundaries with the province of Pangasinan on the north, provinces of Tarlac and Pampanga on the east, and the province of Bataan on the south. The China Sea lies on the west. The terrain is irregular as the whole Zambales Mountain Range traverses the whole length of the province. The mountains occupy the eastern and central portions while the coastal plains lie along the west. It is dry from November to April, and wet from May to October. The mountains offer some protection from the storms coming in from the east but it is vulnerable to the southwest monsoons and tropical cyclones.

The province of Zambales was first administered as part of the province of Pangasinan. Although it lay along important sea routes between Manila, Ilocos and China, it remained sparsely settled. In the late 18th century, Zambales was constituted as a separate province covering an area from Subic up to Alaminos.

Table 1. Total Population Distribution by Municipality and Sex : Zambales, 2000

Municipalities	Total Population	Percent	Male	Female
Zambales	433,542	100.00	219,144	214,398
Botolan	46,602	10.72	23,557	23,045
Cabangan	18,848	4.35	9,521	9,327
Candelaria	23,399	5.40	12,060	11,339
Castillejos	33,108	7.64	16,669	16,439
Iba (Capital)	34,678	8.00	17,421	17,257
Masinloc	39,724	9.16	20,263	19,461
Palawig	29,983	6.92	15,298	14,685
San Antonio	28248	6.52	14,116	14,132
San Felipe	17,702	4.08	8,881	8,821
San MArcelino	25,440	5.87	12,778	12,662
San Narciso	23,522	5.43	11,841	11,681
Sta. Cruz	49,269	11.36	25,082	24,187
Subic	63,019	14.54	31,657	31,362