Philippine fertility rate drops to less than two children per woman

The Philippines' total fertility rate fell to 1.9 offspring per woman aged between 15 and 49 in 2022, from 2.7 in 2017. - AFP

MANILA (Bloomberg): The Philippines’ fertility rate dropped this year to below two children per woman of reproductive age, highlighting a demographic transition that could boost efforts to bring down poverty.

The total fertility rate fell to 1.9 offspring per woman aged between 15 and 49 in 2022 from 2.7 in 2017, according to a survey published this week on the Philippine Statistics Authority’s website. That’s below the 2.1 viewed as the level at which a population replaces itself from a generation to the next.