REGISTERED births and deaths declined by 22.3% and 34.6% respectively from a year earlier in the eight months to August, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported on Thursday.
Citing preliminary data from its Vital Statistics Report, the PSA said recorded births in the January-August period totaled 662,780, lower than the 852, 960 registered a year earlier.
Meanwhile, deaths fell to 366,918 from 560,839 a year earlier.
Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, Quezon) logged the most births and deaths with 100,118 and 54,533, respectively.
Births in the region accounted for 15.1% of all births in the Philippines while deaths accounted for 14.9%.
The National Capital Region logged 81,170 births during the first eight months against the year-earlier 100,680, for a decline of 19.4%. The capital region accounted for 12.2% of the total births in the Philippines.
Metro Manila reported 44,048 deaths or 12% of the national total.
In a separate statement, the PSA said ischaemic heart diseases, cerebrovascular disease, and neoplasms remained the leading causes of death in the first eight months.
Deaths due to ischaemic heart diseases during the period amounted to 67,601 or 18.4% of all deaths while cerebrovascular diseases totaled 37,936 or 10.3% of the national tally.
Neoplasms (37,470) accounted for a 10.2% share of the total.
Deaths associated with COVID-19 totaled 12,772 in the eight months to August, or 3.5% of all registered deaths.
The COVID-19-associated deaths included 8,963 cases or 2.4% of the total in which the virus had been identified at the time of death, making the disease the 11th leading cause of death during the period.
Deaths in which COVID-19 had not been identified amounted to 3,809 cases, accounting for 1% of the total.
Metro Manila recorded the most deaths due to COVID-19 with 3,176 or 24.9% of the national tally.
This was followed by Calabarzon with 2,017 (15.8%), and Central Luzon with 1,690 (13.2%).
Meanwhile, the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao logged the fewest COVID-19 deaths of any region with 35 cases during the period.
Vital Statistics data showed that registered marriages increased 11.4% year on year in the first eight months to 256,854.
Calabarzon posted the most marriages with 37,614 or 14.6% of the national total, while Metro Manila registered 31,444, or 27.4%.
The PSA’s COVID-19 death tally was based on death certificates lodged with health officers at the local government unit level.
This tally differs from the one maintained by the Department of Health, which is based on a surveillance system which counts only confirmed cases.
The Vital Statistics report was compiled from tallies generated by city or municipal Civil Registrars, consolidated by the PSA’s Provincial Statistical Offices, and then submitted to the Office of the Civil Registrar General. — Abigail Marie P. Yraola