The population of Davao del Sur as of August 1, 2015 was 632,588 based on 2015 Census of Population (POPCEN 2015).

The 2015 population is higher by 57,678 compared with the population of 574,910 of 2010, and by 128,299 compared with the population of 504,289 in 2000. Refer to Table 1.

The population of Davao del Sur increased by 1.84 percent annually, on the average, during the period 2010 to 2015. By comparison, the rate at which the province’s population grew during the period 2000 to 2010 was higher at 1.32 percent increase.

If the current annual growth rate of the province continues, the population of Davao del Sur was expected to double in 38.06 years.

One in every four persons in the province is residing in the City of Digos, the provincial capital. The city posted a population of 169,393 persons in 2015 which accounted for about 26.8% of the province’s population.

Davao del Sur has one (1) city and 9 municipalities. City of Digos had the largest population among other municipalities with 169,393 persons, followed by Municipality of Santa Cruz with 90,987 persons and Municipality of Bansalan with 60,440 persons.

The Municipality of Padada was the smallest municipality in 2015, in terms of population size with 26,587 persons.

The City of Digos was the fastest growing political subdivision with an average annual population growth rate (PGR) of 2.36 percent during the period of 2010 to 2015. It was followed by the Municipality of Santa Cruz with PGR of 2.22 percent. Municipality of Padada on the other hand was the slowest with an annual PGR of 0.63 percent only.

There are 232 barangays in the province. The largest barangay in terms of population size is Aplaya in the City of Digos with 18,485 persons. It was followed by Zone 3 (Pob.) in the City of Digos with 17,885 persons and Tres de Mayo in the the City of Digos with 16,595 persons. Six other barangays posted a population of more than fifteen thousand persons. See Table 4.

Lapla in the Municipality of Sulop was the smallest barangay in terms of population size with 199 persons. It was followed by Kibongbong (261) and Bagong Silang in Municipality of Kiblawan. Seven other barangays posted a population size of less than 600 persons. See Table 5.

The POPCEN 2015 was undertaken by the Philippine Statistics Authority in August 2015 pursuant to Republic Act No. 10625, also known as the Philippine Statistical Act of 2013 and Executive Order No. 352 – Designation of Statistical Activities That Will Generate Critical Data for Decision-Making of the Government and Private Sector, which stipulated 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.

His Excellency President Benigno S. Aquino III declared as official for all purposes the population counts by province, city/municipality, and barangay, based on the POPCEN 2015 under Proclamation No. 1269 dated 18 May 2016. The population counts were based on census questionnaires accomplished by about 90,000 enumerators deployed during the nationwide census taking.

The successful completion of the census-taking was made possible with the support of the local and national officials, government agencies, local government units, media, private agencies, and non-government organizations.

For more details and inquiries of your other data needs, please visit our office at Philippine Statistics Authority, Davao del Sur Provincial Statistical Office located at 3F R&T Yap Bldg., Bangoy corner Monteverde Streets, Davao City. You may visit us at our website: http//:www.psa.gov.ph or at http//:www.rsso11.psa.gov.ph