Biliran, the island province of Eastern Visayas, had steadily grown to 140,274 persons based on the 2000 Census of Population and Housing. It registered an increase of 8,065 persons from 132,209 persons five years ago. This translated to an annual growth rate of 1.28 percent from 1995 to 2000. Similarly, the number of households also rose to 27,909, higher by 2,263 households from the 1995 figure. This gave an average household size of 5.02 persons, lower than the 1995 average of 5.15 and slightly higher than the national average of five persons.