BIRTH RATE

2003
 NUMBER OF BIRTHS BY NUMBER OF BIRTHS BY USUAL
REGIONS 2003
PLACE OF OCCURRENCE RESIDENCE OF MOTHER
BOTH BOTH
MALE FEMALE MALE FEMALE
SEXES SEXES
NATIONAL CAPITAL
303,571 158,018 145,553 281,063 146,161 134,902
REGION
CORDILLERA
ADMINISTRATIVE 32,542 16,792 15,750 32,218 16,650 15,568
REGION
REGION I
96,758 50,687 46,071 97,373 51,007 46,366
ILOCOS
REGION II
58,903 30,671 28,232 58,940 30,683 28,257
CAGAYAN VALLEY
REGION III
192,099 100,673 91,426 194,795 102,051 92,744
CENTRAL LUZON
REGION IVA
217,547 112,841 104,706 236,363 122,780 113,583
CALABARZON
REGION IVB
43,763 22,854 20,909 43,912 22,932 20,980
MIMAROPA
REGION V BICOL 113,797 58,952 54,845 113,932 59,039 54,893
REGION VI WESTERN
112,158 58,542 53,616 112,111 58,526 53,585
VISAYAS
REGION VII CENTRAL
VISAYAS 148,548 77,079 71,469 148,459 77,025 71,434
EASTERN VISAYAS
REGION VIII EASTERN
57,065 29,436 27,629 57,213 29,500 27,713
VISAYAS
REGION IX
ZAMBOANGA 50,156 25,953 24,203 50,205 25,978 24,227
PENINSULA
REGION X
NORTHERN 72,328 37,793 34,535 70,993 37,093 33,900
MINDANAO
REGION XI
73,270 38,137 35,133 72,994 37,979 35,015
DAVAO
REGION XII
49,817 25,828 23,989 50,043 25,968 24,075
SOCCSKSARGEN
AUTONOMOUS REGION
OF MUSLIM 13,331 6,849 6,482 14,730 7,582 7,148
MINDANAO
REGION XIII
33,789 17,644 16,145 33,998 17,749 16,249
CARAGA

PHILIPPINES 1,669,442 868,749 800,693

 BIRTH STATISTICS
0.7 0

2.9
4.3
18.1 NATIONAL CAPITAL
4.3
REGION
3
CORDILLERA
3.4 ADMINISTRATIVE REGION
1.9
REGION I
8.9 5.8 ILOCOS
REGION II
3.5 CAGAYAN VALLEY
6.7 REGION III
CENTRAL LUZON
11.5
6.8 REGION IVA CALABARZON

13.03
REGION IVB MIMAROPA
2.6

180,000
160,000
140,000
120,000
100,000
80,000
60,000
40,000
Male
20,000
0 Female
The birth counts for the year was 1,669,442 for a daily occurrence of 4,574. More males were
born than female babies which resulted to a sex ratio of 108. Central Luzon and
CALABARZON, among all other regions, got the highest sex ratio of 110. Crude Birth Rate
(CBR) is continuously fluctuating in the previous years. For five-year period under review
recorded minimum value is 20.6 that occurred in 2003. CBR continuously decreased since 2001.
Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) recorded the lowest CBR among other regions with
5.0 while National Capital Region (NCR) had the highest CBR of 25.8.

100

80

60
Health Professionals
40 Traditional Birth

20

0
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18
It is an interesting fact that more mothers are concerned with their baby’s health and on their
own babies risk during delivery. Majority of mothers delivered their live born through medical
attendants. A total of 1,123,120 or 67.3 percent delivered their babies with assistance from
medical staff (physicians, nurse, and midwives). Of these, six out of ten babies were delivered by
physicians. However, percentage comprised of medical attendants remains lower than the target
set by Department of Health (DOH) which is 80 percent in 2004.

On the other hand, 544,244 births were delivered by unlicensed midwives and other non-medical
attendants. Mothers in Caraga preferred to deliver their babies attended by unlicensed midwives
in which 21,269 live births or 62.6 percent were accounted for in the region. This was also true
in MIMAROPA (61.5%), and Bicol (59.0%). Moreover, seven out of 17 regions in the country
preferred and practiced delivery through unlicensed midwives other than the medical attendants.
In contrast, NCR, as a highly urbanized region, had the highest count of birth deliveries through
medical attendants with 98.7 percent.

Regional Statistics - Areas with highest and lowest birth rates

REGIONS HIGHEST LOWEST

National Capital Manila Others
Region 108,828 3,626
Cordillera Benguet Apayao
Administrative Region 16,840 1,658
Region I Pangasinan Ilocos Norte
Ilocos 57,643 10,641

Region II Isabela Batanes

Cagayan Valley 25,722 352

Region III Bulacan Aurora

Central Luzon 50,122 3,498
Region IV-A Laguna Quezon
CALABARZON 51,449 34,776
Region IV-B Oriental Mindoro Marinduque
MIMAROPA 13,168 4,941
Region V Camarines Sur Catanduanes
Bicol 41,661 5,149
Region VI Iloilo Guimaras
Western Visayas 36,960 1,927
 Region VII Cebu Siquijor
Central Visayas 98,382 1,575
Region VIII Leyte Biliran
Eastern Visayas 31,431 (52.72%) 2,617 (4.69%)

Region IX Zamboanga del Sur ZamboangaSibugay

Zamboanga Peninsula 28,668 7,459
Region X Misamis Oriental Camiguin
Northern Mindanao 28,623 (36.3%) 1,859 (2.36%)

Region XI Davao del Sur Davao Oriental

Davao 41,128 6,225

Region XII South Cotabato Sarangani

SOCCSKSARGEN 19,620 5,126
Agusan del Norte Surigao del Sur
Region XIII CARAGA
11,230 6,543
Autonomous Region of Maguindanao Tawitawi
Muslim Mindanao 7,249 821

Despite NCR is considered as the major contributor to birth, Cebu of Region VII-Central
VIsayas got the most numbers with 98,382, making it the city with the highest numbers of birth
in the whole country, meanwhile, Batanes of Region II- Cagayan Valley got 352 or 0.5 percent,
making it the city with the lowest numbers of birth.
Distribution of Birth by Age Group 2003

Age Group 2003

Number Percent
Total 1,669,442 100
Under 20 123,865 7.4
20 - 24 472,211 28.3
25 - 29 458,341 27.5
30 - 34 340,211 20.4
35 - 39 193,825 11.6
40 - 44 68,400 4.1
45 - 49 8,124 0.5
50 & Over 728 0
Not Stated 3,737 0.2

2003
500,000
450,000
400,000
350,000
300,000
250,000
200,000
150,000
100,000
50,000
0
Under 20 20 - 24 25 - 29 30 - 34 35 - 39 40 - 44 45 - 49 50 & Over Not Stated

Distribution of Birth by Age Group

With 472,211 births, the group of 20-24 is the dominant range of age getting 28.3 percent over
the entire live births recorded for the year 2003, next to it is 25-29 with 458,341 or 27.5 percent
and 30-34 which comes after with 340211 or 20.4 recorded births. Meanwhile, there were also
recorded 123,865 and 728 births by under 20 and over 50 respectively.