MANILA, PHILIPPINES — On November 13, Monday, the PSA (Philippine Statistics Authority) said the country’s Total Fertility Rate is in decline. Filipino women are less fertile and the population may start shrinking, the agency reported.
According to the preliminary results of the 2022 NDHS, the TFR (total fertility rate) of the Philippines fell from 2.7 in 2017 to 1.9 in 2022, decreasing over the previous six years. This TFR comprises the number of children born to Filipino women aged 15 to 49.
“Hence, the Philippines is already below the replacement fertility level of 2.1 children per woman,” remarked the agency.
Moreover, compared to women living in urban areas, who had 1.7 children per woman, those in rural regions had a TFR of 2.2 children per woman, slightly higher than the former.
The replacement level, which is 2.1 for industrialized nations, is the level of fertility at which a population perfectly replaces itself from one generation to the next.
The 2022 NDHS survey results
In the 2022 NDHS, women were asked if they wanted more kids and, if so, how long they wanted to wait before having the next one. Most married women aged 15 to 49 (48.8 percent), even those who have had sterilization or whose husbands have, do not want more children.
Women who had six or more living children were more likely to wish to stop having children—72 percent of them.
While 17.4 percent intended to wait at least two years, over 14 percent wanted to have another kid in the next two years. Additionally, 8.1 percent were unsure about having additional kids, and 0.2 percent wanted another child but had yet to determine when.
The PSA stated that the 2022 NDHS surveyed 27,821 women between the ages of 15 and 49 from 30,372 households and that they would thoroughly analyze the survey data the following year. – WhatALife!/Zed
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