Median age of the population in the Philippines 2020

In 2025, the average age in the Philippines is expected to reach 25.5 years, increasing to roughly 42.5 years of age by 2100. This is a significant rise, considering that until the year 2000, the country’s median age was under 20 years old. From 2011 to 2021, the share of very young people decreased, while the age brackets for people aged 15-64 and 65 or older grew. This shift in age structure implies a lower birth rate, as well as an aging population.

Birth and family size

As of 2020, the birth rate in the Philippines is just under 22 children born per thousand inhabitants each year, about 3 less than in the decade before. The fertility rate has likewise been decreasing since 2007, but is still higher than the Oceania region’s average as of 2020. Fewer newborns each year contributes to a lower median age.

High mortality in the Philippines is preventable

Life expectancy is also factor in a rising median age, although increasing only marginally in the Philippines compared with neighboring countries Cambodia, Myanmar, and Laos (but still higher than in these countries). The life expectancy in the Philippines was just under 72 years of age in 2017, and roughly three years shorter than in Thailand or Vietnam. One factor that lowers the life expectancy is the high mortality rate due to noncontagious diseases, such as cancer and heart and respiratory problems, accounting for more than a quarter of early deaths from ages 30 to 70 in the Philippines.