The Philippines is recording the lowest birth rate in its modern demographic history, with new government data showing the average number of children per woman has dropped to 1.7 — well below the 2.1 threshold required for a population to replace itself naturally.
The figure comes from the 2025 National Demographic and Health Survey released Monday by the Philippine Statistics Authority, which tracked reproductive trends from 2022 to 2025 through interviews with nearly 30,000 women aged 15 to 49. The rate has fallen sharply from 1.9 in 2022 and represents less than half the 4.1 recorded in 1993.
The trend was consistent across income groups, regions, and education levels, though significant disparities remain. Calabarzon posted the steepest regional decline, dropping from 1.8 to 1.3 — the lowest in the country. The National Capital Region and Negros Island Region each recorded 1.4. The Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao retained the highest rate at 2.4, though even that fell from 3.1 in the previous survey cycle.
Wealth and education remain strong predictors of fertility. Women in the richest households averaged just 1.1 children, down from 1.4 in 2022. Those in the poorest bracket averaged 2.8, a drop from 3.1 — but still more than double the wealthiest group. Women with only partial primary education recorded the highest fertility of any educational cohort at 3.1.
The data suggests much of the decline reflects deliberate choices. Among married women, 57.3% said they did not want additional children. Of those who already had two children, 63.3% said they preferred to stop — up from 60.1% in 2017. Modern contraceptive use among married women rose to 44.5% from 41.8%, with oral pills the most commonly used method at 11.6%, followed by female sterilization at 4.6% and injectables at 3.4%. Barangay health stations were the leading public source of contraceptives.
Access, however, remains uneven. The survey found 12.5% of married women had an unmet need for family planning. Among sexually active unmarried women, the gap was far more pronounced — nearly half, at 48%, reported needing contraception but being unable to obtain it.
On adolescent pregnancy, the survey recorded a record low: 4.8% of women aged 15 to 19 had given birth, compared with a peak of 10.1% in 2013, with adolescent births now standing at 22 per 1,000 women in that age group.
