THE country’s population density increased 9.4 percent in 2015 with about 337 persons per square kilometer, the Philippine Statistics Authority said Thursday.
In five years, the country’s population density—the number of people living in each unit of area —grew by 29 people per square kilometer from the 308 persons per square kilometer in 2010.
Among the country’s 18 administrative regions, the most densely populated was the National Capital Region, with a population density of 19,988 persons per square kilometer.
“This figure is almost 60 times higher than the population density of 337 persons per square kilometer at the national level,” PSA noted.
It said this translates to an additional 1,586 persons per square kilometer (8.6 percent) from the 18,402 persons per square kilometer in 2010.
The most sparsely populated region in 2015 was the Cordillera Administrative Region, with 84 persons per square kilometer.
Among the country’s 81 provinces, Cavite was the most densely populated with 2,455 residents per square kilometer of land.
It was followed by Rizal with 2,311 persons per square kilometer, Laguna with 1,567 persons per square kilometer, Pampanga (excluding Angeles City) with 1,111 persons per square kilometer, and Bulacan with 1,107 persons per square kilometer.
In contrast, Apayao was the most sparsely populated province with a population density of 26 persons per square kilometer.
Next was Abra with 56 residents per square kilometer, followed by Palawan (excluding Puerto Princesa City) with 58 persons per square kilometer, Mountain Province with 59 persons per square kilometer, and Kalinga with 61 persons per square kilometer.
In relation to the population density, data also showed the country’s economic growth was mainly focused in the most populous regions.
The National Economic and Development Authority earlier reminded lagging regions to catch up with the economic performance of the top three regions: NCR, Calabarzon and Central Luzon.
Latest PSA data showed the NCR remains the top contributor to the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) from 2010-2015 followed by Cavite-Laguna-Batangas-Rizal-Quezon (Calabarzon) and Central Luzon, primarily due to the expansion of the industry and services sectors and obvious proximity to NCR.
The share of NCR in GDP grew to 36.5 percent in 2015 from 35.7 percent in 2010, while Calabarzon and Central Luzon posted shares of 17.2 and 9.3 percent, respectively, in the same year.
In 2015, only these three, out of 17 regions, had their per capita GRDP above the national average of P74,770 (at constant 2000 prices).
NCR is by far the richest region with a per capita GRDP of P219,114.
This is about 2.9 times the national average and more than twice the level of the next richest region, CALABARZON with per capita GRDP of P92,285. The NCR’s per capita GRDP is 16 times that of the poorest region, ARMM, with a measly per capita GRDP of P13,695.
“These three regions constitute about two-thirds of the Philippine economy’s output, which means the 14 other regions share just a third of GDP. We cannot continue to focus development on these three regions and expect to reduce massive socioeconomic inequality,” said Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ernesto M. Pernia.
Conversely, the regions with the smallest contributions to the GDP were the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), CARAGA, and MIMAROPA.
This, despite the rapid growth posted by CARAGA in the past six years, the 6.7 percent growth of ARMM in 2010, and the growing tourism service sector of MIMAROPA.
Addressing spatial and socioeconomic inequality requires linking lagging regions with leading ones through connective infrastructure such as transportation, communications, and information technology, Pernia said.
This way, it is much easier and cheaper to transport goods into larger markets in bigger cities and even overseas and enable people to access employment opportunities, he added.
Apart from infrastructure, it is also important to link economic sectors – agriculture, services, and industry, particularly manufacturing, within a region, said Pernia, also the NEDA Director General.
Pernia said: “For example, local small farmers can be organized and supported so they can supply food or raw materials to bigger businesses like food manufacturers and restaurant and grocery chains.
“This has already been started in selected regions and provinces through the Accelerated and Sustainable Anti-Poverty Program (ASAPP).
“In Tuburan, Cebu, for instance, local coffee growers were provided technical assistance so that they can supply the requirements of a large local coffee chain.
“We must rebalance regional infrastructure investment and growth opportunities to reduce inequality and poverty in the whole archipelago. This will allow more Filipinos throughout the country to participate in the growth process and ensure that no one is truly left behind,” he said.
