The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said the country logged the biggest decline of registered live births in 2021.
Data from the PSA showed 1.36 million registered live births in 2021, down 10.7 percent from the 1.53 million logged in 2020.
The PSA explained the number of registered live births has been on a decreasing trend, with a 23.8 percent decline from 2012’s 1.79 million to 2021’s 1.36 million.
“The highest rate of decline was noted in 2021 with -10.7 percent,” the PSA said.
An average of 3,739 babies were born daily in 2021, statistically, the numbers showed 156 babies were born every hour or approximately three babies born every minute.
Around 52.1 percent or 711,434 were male, while 47.9 percent or 653,305 were female.
Among the said number, 57.4 percent were born in Luzon, 18.4 percent in the Visayas, and 24.2 percent in Mindanao.
Calabarzon posted the highest number of births in 2021 with a 14.3 percent share among all regions.
“In 2021, most registered births occurred in September at 133,409 or 9.8 percent of the total births in the country,” the PSA said.
— Ronald Espartinez