Census in the Philippines
The Philippine census of population and housing is a regularly occurring and official inventory of the human population as well as housing units in the Philippines. The population is enumerated every 5 years and the results are used to allocate Congressional seats and government program funding.
By virtue of Republic Act No. 10625 known as the Philippine Statistical Act of 2013, censuses in the Philippines are administered by the Philippine Statistics Authority.
History
The first census in the Philippines in 1591, was based on tributes collected and yielded about 666,712 people in the islands. In 1799, Friar Manuel Buzeta estimated the population count as 1,502,574. However, the first official census in the Philippines was carried out by the Spanish government pursuant to a royal decree calling for the counting of persons living as of the midnight of December 31, 1877. Based on this census, the Philippines had a population of 5,567,685 as of the reference date. This was followed by another censuses, the 1887 census that yielded a count of 5,984,727.The first census conducted by the U.S. military forces took place in 1903 to fulfill Public Act 467 which was approved by the United States Philippine Commission on October 6, 1902.
A four-volume description of this census was on hand some years ago at the National Archives in San Bruno, California, but the volumes appear to have since been misplaced.
| Num | Year | Reference Date | Population | ±% p.a. | Notes |
| 1 | 1877 | December 31, 1877 | 5,567,685 | – | First official census by the Spanish government. Population excludes non-Christians. |
| 2 | 1887 | 6,984,727 | – | Population excludes non-Christians. | |
| 3 | 1903 | 7,635,426 | – | First official census by the US government | |
| 4 | 1918 | 10,314,310 | +2.03% | ||
| 5 | 1939 | 16,000,303 | +2.11% | First and only census of the Commonwealth of the Philippines. | |
| 6 | 1948 | 19,234,182 | +2.07% | First census of the independent Republic of the Philippines. | |
| 7 | 1960 | 27,087,685 | +2.89% | ||
| 8 | 1970 | 36,684,486 | +3.08% | ||
| 9 | 1975 | 42,070,660 | +2.79% | ||
| 10 | 1980 | 48,098,460 | +2.71% | ||
| 11 | 1990 | 60,703,206 | +2.36% | No census was taken in 1985 due to political and economic crisis. | |
| 12 | 1995 | 68,616,536 | +2.32% | ||
| 13 | 2000 | 76,506,928 | +2.36% | ||
| 14 | 2007 | 88,566,732 | +2.04% | Census not taken in 2005 due to reenacted budget in that year and the next. | |
| 15 | 2010 | 92,337,852 | +1.53% | ||
| 16 | 2015 | August 1, 2015 | 100,981,437 | +1.72% | This is the first census that recorded a population exceeding 100 million and the most recent Census. |
| 17 | 2020 | TBA | TBA | TBA |
Statistics
For years between the censuses, the Philippine Statistics Authority issues estimates made using surveys and statistical systems.Based on the population census in 2015, the national population is 100,981,437 as of August 1, 2015. From 2010 to 2015, the population grew by 1.72% per year on the average.
Santos said the Philippines’ population expanded from 1960 to 1970 at an annual rate of 3.01 percent. This slowed to 2.75 percent for the decade from 1970 to 1980, and further to 2.34 percent from 1990 to 2000.
From 2001 to 2006, the Philippine population growth rate was similar to Malaysia with an average 2 per cent growth rate; but higher than Vietnam, 1.4 percent from 2001 to 2006; Indonesia, 1.3 percent; and Thailand, 0.8 percent.
The next census is scheduled for the year 2020.