Registered births and deaths declined by double digits in the first five months of 2022 from a year ago, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).
Preliminary data from the PSA’s Vital Statistics report showed the number of registered births from January to May dropped 31.9% to 343,032 in the January to May period.
By region, Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna Batangas, Rizal and Quezon) posted the highest number of registered births at 53,627 or 15.6% of the total. However, this was 26.1% lower than the births registered during the same period in 2021.
In the National Capital Region (NCR), registered births fell 25.8% to 43,328 in the five month period.
At the same time, registered deaths dropped 24.7% to 208,099 in the January to May period.
The Calabarzon region had the highest number of deaths at 31,469, accounting for 15.1% of the total, but 37.9% lower than a year ago.
Deaths in NCR stood at 26,257 deaths during the period, down by 42.2% from a year ago.
CAUSES OF DEATH
The three leading causes of death were ischaemic heart diseases (38,707), cerebrovascular diseases (21,602), and cancer (20,408) during the January to May period.
PSA data also showed coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) was the seventh leading cause of death in the first five months of the year.
Registered deaths due to COVID-19 reached 11,051 or 5.3% of the total deaths recorded in the period.
Deaths associated with COVID-19 of which the virus is identified, accounted for 8,143 or 3.9% of the total deaths. Deaths due to COVID-19 with virus “not identified” stood at 2,908, or 1.4% of the total deaths from January to May period, making it the 17th overall cause of death.
By region, the National Capital Region (NCR) recorded the highest number of deaths due to COVID-19 with 2,647 or 24% of the total COVID-19 deaths.
This was followed by Calabarzon with 1,650 deaths (14.9%), and Central Luzon with 1,447 deaths (13.1%).
In NCR, Quezon City registered the largest number of deaths due to COVID-19, with 558 or 21.1% of the total. This was followed by City of Manila with 434, or 16.4% and City of Caloocan with 269 or 10.2%.
Meanwhile, Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao had the lowest number of COVID-19 deaths in the country with 28 cases.
According to PSA, data on the COVID-19 deaths may differ from the disease surveillance numbers produced by the Department of Health as their data were based on the descriptions written on the medical certificate of the deceased and certified by health officers of the local government units where the death took place.
MARRIAGES
PSA data also showed registered marriages slipped 9.5% to 136,588 in January to May.
Calabarzon had the most number of marriages with 21,310, up by 0.8% from the 21,139 a year ago.
In NCR, marriages dipped 1.6% to 15,734 marriages in the five-month period.
The information in 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. — Mariedel Irish U. Catilogo