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THE lure
of seemingly unending economic opportunities in Metro
Manila has caused its population to increase by 16.3
percent per square kilometer in 2007, according to the
National Statistical Coordination Board (NSCB).
In a
report, the NSCB said that based on the 2007 Census of
Population released by the National Statistics Office (NSO),
there are now 18,650 persons per square kilometer in
Metro Manila. This represented an increase of 2,617
persons per square kilometer from 2000.
“Metro
Manila, the country’s center of economic activity and
the most densely populated region, has 26 times the
density of people in Calabarzon and 41 times that of
Central Luzon,” the NSCB said. “Economic growth and
opportunities that abound attract people to flock to the
more affluent areas [like Metro Manila].” Calabarzon
comprises the fast-growing Southern Luzon provinces of
Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal and Quezon.
While
Metro Manila may be bursting at the seams, a similar
phenomena of smaller proportions is also being felt in
up-and-coming cosmopolitan centers such as Calabarzon,
Central Luzon and Central Visayas in terms of population
density vis-ŕ-vis the gross domestic product (GDP).
Among
the provinces, the top 10 populous provinces in 2007 are
all in Luzon—four in Calabarzon, three in Central Luzon,
two in Ilocos Region and one in Bicol Region.
Rizal,
the NSCB said, is the most congested province, with a
population density of 1,916, followed by Cavite with
1,843, Laguna with 1,356, Bulacan with 1,019 and
Pampanga with 927.
“The
proximity of these provinces to Metro Manila and the
boom of housing projects in these areas, as well as the
presence of economic zones and industrial parks in some
of these areas may have contributed to the increase in
their population,” the NSCB explained.
Meanwhile, the highest population density increase was
recorded in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao
with a 50-percent increase; Calabarzon came in second
with 26 percent and Soccsksargen was third with 18.9
percent.
Zamboanga Peninsula posted the lowest increase in
density at 4.4 percent.
The
least populous region is the Cordillera Autonomous
Region with only 78 persons per square kilometer in
2007.
The
increase in density per city was also reflected in the
latest Labor Force Survey of the NSO, which showed that
double-digit increases in the unemployment rates in the
National Capital Region were the highest at 13.8
percent; followed by Calabarzon with 10.3 percent; and
Central Luzon, 10 percent. The country’s unemployment
rate increased to 8 percent in April 2008 from 7.4
percent last year. |
