Over 1 million Filipinos were added to the population of Metro Manila in 2015, according to data released by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) on Tuesday.
Data from the 2015 Census of Population (Popcen 2015) showed the population of the National Capital Region (NCR) increased by 1.02 million to 12.88 million in 2015, from 11.86 million in 2010.
The population of Metro Manila increased by 2.94 million, from a population of only 9.93 million posted a decade ago.
“The population of the NCR increased by 1.58 percent annually, on average, during the period 2010 to 2015. By comparison, the rate at which the region’s population grew during the period 2000 to 2010 was higher at 1.78 percent,” the PSA said.
Among the 16 highly urbanized cities (HUCs) in the NCR, Quezon City had the biggest population in 2015, with 2.94 million.
It was followed by the City of Manila, with 1.78 million; and Caloocan City, with 1.58 million.
The City of San Juan had the smallest population among the HUCs, with only 122,000.
Pateros, the only municipality in the region, posted a population of 64,000.
In terms of growth rate, Taguig posted the fastest increase in population, at 4.32 percent, between 2010 and 2015.
It was followed by the City of Mandaluyong, with 3.12 percent; and the City of Parañaque, with 2.39 percent.
Among the region’s HUCs, the City of Navotas posted the lowest population growth rate of 0.03 percent.
The NCR has 1,706 barangays. The largest barangay in the region in terms of population size is Barangay 176 in Caloocan City, with 246,515 persons.
It was followed by Commonwealth in Quezon City, with a population of 198,285; and Batasan Hills in Quezon City, with 161,409.
The Popcen 2015 was undertaken by the PSA in August 2015.
Republic Act 10625, also known as the Philippine Statistical Act of 2013; and Executive Order 352 stipulate the conduct of a mid-decade census, primarily to update the population count in all barangays nationwide.
Information on the count of the population were collected with 12:01 a.m. of August 1, 2015, as the census reference time and date.
The population counts were based on census questionnaires accomplished by about 90,000 enumerators deployed during the nationwide census-taking.