pines, population dynamics-related transition, i.e. the so-called demographic t
ransition is slow compared to other countries, slower than countries such as Th
ailand and Indonesia. You can see how much transition has been made in terms of
population dynamics by looking at two indications; Iowering of birth rate and i
mprovement of mortality rate, i.e. total fertility rate and average life expect
ancy at birth. Demographic transition is slow In advancing if birth rate is hig
h and mortality rate is high. Demographic transition ad-vances and becomes infi
nitely close to 1.0 when improvement is seen in birth rate and mortality rate a
nd both values decline.
Let us take a look at the demographic transition index of Asian countries by us
ing data from ESCAP and UN from several years ago, although the figures may be
slightly differ-ent from the most recent ones. Unfortunately, advancement of de
mographic transition is slow in the Philippines. Her index is 63%, which means
that there is nearly 40% more room in lowering the birth rate and mortality. Me
anwhile, Hong Kong and Taiwan have extremely high demographic transition index,
China and Korea also have their demo-graphic transition index on the 90% mark.
In contrast to these countries, the demo-graphic transition index of the Philip
pines is on the 60% mark. As total fertility rate of the Philippines is estimat
ed to be lower than 40%, it needs to be modified somewhat. While these indicato
rs suggest very interesting points in comparison with other countries, one can
say that demographic transition in the Philippines is considerably undeveloped
compared to other Asian countries.
The next point is that the level of urbanization very high probably the highest
in South-east Asia. The percentage of urbanization has reached 54%.
As for the content of urban population, high degree of urbanization means that
that the process of urbanization is very rapid and that population is increasin
gly attracted to cities. I think this is an extremely important point. Generall
y speaking, the factor that affects increases in urban population the most is i
mmigration. In the case of the Philippines, however, the greatest factor is nat
ural increase. This is followed by a factor unique to the Philippines reclassif
ication of administrative demarcations signifying increase in population and in
dustrialization of local areas. Towns, villages and small communities are being
promoted to cities. And interestingly, this administrative reclassification is
the second largest factor. Migration in pure sense of the term is rare and does
not play an important role. Natural increase and administrative reclassificatio
n are the most im-portant causes of increase in urban population.
In the Philippines, population is rapidly increasing in an administrative unit
called Baran-gay, which is the smallest unit of community. This, in turn, raise
s population density and advances the process of industrialization. So administ
rative reclassification means these small communities called Barangay becoming
bigger and bigger and being pro-moted to cities. I think this is an extremely i
mportant point.
I would like to show you some data on factors behind increase of urban populati
on in the Philippines as a whole the magnitude of increase and the reasons behi
nd it. First of all,
