Total population went up by 41,340 persons

• The population of Davao Oriental as of August 1, 2015 was 558,958 persons based on the 2015 Census of Population (POPCEN 2015).

• The 2015 population is higher by 41,340 compared with the population of 517,618 in 2010, and by 112,767 compared with the population of 446,191 in 2000.

Population increased by 15 persons per year for every 1,000 persons

• Davao Oriental population increased by 1.47 percent annually, on average, during the period 2010 to 2015. This means that there were about 15 persons added per year for every 1,000 persons in the population.

• By comparison, the rate at which the province’s population grew during the period 2000 to 2010 was higher at 1.50 percent. If the current annual growth rate of the province continues, the population of Davao Oriental was expected to double in 47.6 years

One in every four persons resided in the City of Mati

• One in every four persons in the province is residing in the City of Mati, the province’s capital and lone city. The city posted a population of 141,141 persons in 2015 which accounted for about 25.3% of the province’s population.

• Davao Oriental has 10 municipalities. Municipality of Lupon had the biggest population in 2015 with 65,785, followed by the Municipality of Baganga with 56,241, and the Municipality of Governor Generoso with 55,109 persons. The combined population of these three municipalities accounted for about 31.69% percent of the Davao Oriental population in 2015.

• The Municipality of Boston was the smallest municipality in 2015, in terms of population size, with 13,535 persons.

• The City of Mati was the fastest growing political subdivision with an average annual population growth rate (PGR) of 2.16 percent. Municipality of Tarragona, on the other hand, was the slowest with an annual PGR of 0.41% only.

Males outnumbered females

• Of the total population, 51.9 percent were males while 48.1 percent were females. This resulted to a sex ratio of 108 males for every 100 females. The same sex ratio was reported in 2010.

• Municipalities of Caraga and Cateel posted the highest sex ratio of 111 each. City of Mati had the lowest sex ratio of 104.

Median age decreased to 20.5 years

• In 2015, the median age of the province’s total population was 20.5 years, which means that half of the total population was below 20.5 years old. Median age was highest in Banaybanay (20.6 years) and lowest in Tarragona (20.2 years). The median age in 2010 was 21.9 years.

Average household size was 4.3 persons in 2015

• The household population of Davao Oriental reached 557,025 persons in 2015. This is 40,550 higher than the 516,475 household population reported in 2010.

• The total number of households in the province in 2015 was recorded at 128,574, higher by 15,011 compared with 113,563 in 2010.

• Davao Oriental’s average household size (AHS) decreased from 4.5 persons in 2010 to 4.3 persons in 2015. In 2000, there were 5.1 persons, on average, per household.

Children aged 0 to 4 years and 5 to 9 years comprised the largest age groups

• The age-sex distribution of the population showed that children aged 0 to 4 years and 5 to 9 years, comprised the largest age groups with each making up 11.7 percent of the household population, followed by those in the age groups 10 to 14 years (11.2 percent) and 15 to 19 years (10.3 percent).

• Males outnumbered females in the age groups 0 to 64 years. Females, on the other hand, outnumbered their male counterparts in the older age groups (65 years old and over).

Dependency ratio decreased to 58 dependents per 100 persons in the working-age group

• Of the total population, 60.5 percent belonged to the working-age population (15 to 64 years). Children below 15 years of age comprised 34.5 percent while older persons (65 years and over) accounted for 5.0 percent.

• The overall dependency ratio of Davao Oriental in 2015 was 63 dependents for every 100 persons in the working age group, down from 68 dependents in 2010. Of the 63 dependents, 57 were young dependents while eight were old dependents.

Sixty percent of the total population were of voting age

• At the provincial level, the voting-age population or persons 18 years old and over accounted for 60.0 percent (329,553 persons) of the total population in 2015. The size of the voting-age population recorded in 2010 was 296,479 million or 57.3 percent of the total population.

• The five city/municipalities with the highest proportion of voting-age population are Lupon (60.4 percent), City of Mati (60.3 percent), Banaybanay (60.1 percent), Manay (59.9 percent), and San Isidro VI (58.9 percent). Cateel had the lowest proportion of voting-age population with 56.1 percent.

More males than females among never-married

• Of the total population 10 years old and over, 42.4 percent were never married while 41.8 percent were married. The rest of the total population was categorized as follows: in common law/live-in marital arrangement (10.2 percent), widowed (4.4 percent), divorced/separated (1.1 percent), and had unknown marital status (less than 0.1 percent).

• Among the never-married persons, a higher proportion of males (57.1 percent) than females (42.9 percent) was reported in 2015. Meanwhile, the proportion of females was higher than males among those who were widowed (72.3 percent), in common law/live-in marital arrangement (50.3 percent), and unknown marital status (68.8 percent).

• Across city/municipalities, Manay and Cateel (44.0 percent) had the highest proportion of never-married persons while Cateel (46.9 percent) had the highest proportion of married individuals. Moreover, it is observed that Baganga (5.0 percent) reported the largest proportion of widowed, San Isidro had the largest proportion of common law/live-in (15.0 percent), and Boston had the largest proportion of divorced/separated persons (1.7 percent).

Females outnumbered males among academic degree holders

• Of the total population 5 years old and over, 47.6 percent had attended or completed elementary education, 31.9 percent had reached or finished high school, 7.2 percent were college undergraduates, and 5.0 percent were academic degree holders.

• Among those with academic degrees, there were more females (59.3 percent) than males (40.7 percent). Similarly, among those with post baccalaureate courses, females (63.8 percent) outnumbered males (36.2 percent).

School attendance rate was higher among females than among males

• Of the 232,717 household population aged 5 to 24 years, 70.3 percent were attending school in School Year (SY) 2015-2016. In 2010, the rate of school attendance in SY 2009-2010 was lower at 60.2 percent.

• By sex, the school attendance rate in 2015 was higher among females (72.0 percent) than among males (68.8 percent). In 2010, the rate of school attendance was higher among females (61.9 percent) than among males (58.6 percent).

Simple literacy rate was recorded at 97.3 percent

• The Province of Davao Oriental posted a literacy rate of 97.3 percent among the 426,578 household population aged 10 years old and over. This is higher than the 96.0 percent literacy rate that was recorded in 2010. In the 2010 Census of Population and Housing and POPCEN 2015, a person is considered literate if he/she is able to read and write a simple message in any language or dialect.

• Literacy rate in 2015 was slightly higher among females (97.6 percent) than among males (97.1 percent). Similarly, literacy rate was slightly higher among females (96.3 percent) than among males (95.8 percent) in 2010.

Roman Catholics accounted for 73.7 percent of the total population

• Almost three fourths (73.7 percent or 411,693 persons) of the total population of Davao Oriental in 2015 reported Roman Catholic as their religious affiliation. The corresponding figure in 2010 was 75.4 percent (389,573 persons).

• The next largest religious affiliation in the province was Islam, comprising 5.8 percent of the total population. It was followed by those who were affiliated with the Evangelicals (Philippine Council of Evangelical Churches) with 4.5 percent share.

Almost three in every five persons were engaged in gainful activity

• In 2015, the province had 364,127 household population aged 15 years and over. Of this total, approximately three in every five persons (56.4 percent) were engaged in a gainful activity during the 12 months preceding the census.

• By major occupation group, skilled agricultural, forestry, and fishery workers comprised the largest group (33.5 percent of the total gainfully active persons). Workers engaged in elementary occupations came in next (26.3 percent), followed by service and sales workers (11.4 percent).

About 3.2 percent of the household population were overseas workers

• Of the household population 15 years old and over, 5,811 persons or 1.6 percent were overseas workers. Overseas workers aged 25-29 years made up the largest age group, comprising 25.4 percent of the total overseas workers, followed by those in the age groups 30 to 34 years (22.2 percent), 35 to 39 years (17.0 percent), and 45 years and over (12.7 percent).

TECHNICAL NOTES

• The 2015 Census of Population (POPCEN 2015) was undertaken by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) in August 2015 as mandated by Republic Act No. 10625, otherwise known as the Philippine Statistics Act of 2013.

• It was the 14th census of population that was undertaken since the first census in 1903. POPCEN 2015 was designed to take an inventory of the total population all over the Philippines and collect information about their characteristics.

• Census day for the POPCEN 2015 was August 1, 2015 (12:01 a.m.).

• POPCEN 2015 made use of the de jure concept of enumeration wherein households and persons are enumerated in the area where they usually reside as of the census reference date.

• Enumeration lasted for about 25 days, from 10 August to 6 September 2015. Enumeration was extended until 15 September 2015 for large provinces and some highly urbanized cities.