Four out of 10 persons in the country were never married, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said Friday, citing its 2020 Census of Population and Housing.
Based on the 2020 CPH, the PSA said the Philippines had a household population of 108,667,043 persons. Of this total, the household population 10 years old and over comprised 79.4 percent or 86,333,513 persons.
Of these 86 million persons, 34.26 million persons or 39.7%, or nearly four in 10 were never married, while 33.87 million persons or 39.2% were married.
“Based on VSR (Vitals Statistics Report) 2020, the earliest age of bride and groom is 13 years both… Data showing as early as 12 years old [for getting married],” PSA chief and National Statistician Claire Dennis Mapa explained to GMA News on why 10 years old was made the base age for determining marital status of the population.
The VSR is a yearly report on vital events like births, deaths, and marriages occurring in the Philippines. It highlights data on the number and percent distribution of these events—by month of occurrence, age, sex, and region, province, or city.
The rest of the population was categorized as follows—in common-law or live-in marital arrangement at 14.7%, widowed at 4.5%, and divorced/separated/annulled at 1.9%, the PSA said.
Despite the higher percentage of single persons, the number of married persons increased by 1.52 million from 32.5 million in 2015 to 33.87 million in 2020.
Among married persons, 61% were aged 30-54 years, broken down with the following age groups —40-44 years at 13.2%, 35-39 years at 13.1%, 30-34 years at 12.1%, 45-49 years at 11.9%, and 50-54 years at 10.7%. (See full story online at manilastandard.net)
For married males, the highest proportion was reported in the age group 40-44 years at 6.7%.
Married females had a higher proportion among age group 35-39 years at 6.6%.
Meanwhile, single or never-married persons declined by 4.1 percentage points in 2020 from 43.8% in 2015.
Among the never-married persons, a higher proportion of males at 54.1% were reported in 2020, according to the PSA.
Individuals in common-law or live-in arrangements increased to 14.7% in 2020 from 9.2% in 2015.
Among the age groups of individuals in common-law or live-in arrangements, the highest proportion was reported in the age group 25-29 years at 20.8%. The same distribution was reported among males and females with 10.4% each.
The PSA said an uptrend was observed among those divorced/separated/annulled, registering 1.9% in 2020 from 1.5% in 2015.
The percentage of widows remained the same in 2015 and 2020 at 4.5%.