EXPLANATORY NOTES
Data on births, marriages and deaths presented in this release were obtained from the Certificates of Live Birth (Municipal Form No. 102), Certificates of Marriage (Municipal Form No. 97) and the Certificates of Death (Municipal Form No. 103) that were registered at the Office of the City/Municipal Civil Registrars in Bicol Region and forwarded to the Philippine Statistics Authority. Information presented include registered births, deaths and marriages which occurred from January to December 2023 (Preliminary as of 31 May 2024). Thus, the preliminary figures presented may differ from the final count.

Fourteen births per thousand population
In January to December 2023, a total of 90,309 live births were registered in Bicol Region. This figure is about 6.7% share to the total registered live births (1,344,210) in the country. For this period, Bicol Region registered a crude birth rate (CBR) of 14.3 or 14 births per thousand population.

The number of registered live births decreased by 6.9% or 6,653 live births in January to December 2023 from 96,962 registered births in the same period of 2022.

Figure 1 shows the number of registered live births in Bicol Region in January to December 2023. Camarines Sur had the most number of registered births among provinces with 31,987 (35.4%) registered births. It was followed by Albay with 20,704 (22.9%) registered births, the province of Sorsogon with 11,503 (12.7%) registered births, Camarines Norte with 11,107 (12.3%) registered births, and Masbate with 10,838 (12.0%) registered births.  Catanduanes had the least number of registered births with 4,170 or about 4.6% share to the total registered births in Bicol Region.

More males born than females

In January to December 2023 all provinces in Bicol Region had more males (46,780 or 51.8%) born than females (43,529 or 48.2%) which resulted in a sex ratio of 108 males per 100 females.
On the average, there were about 247 babies born daily or about 10 babies born per hour in Bicol Region.

Most births occur in September  
In January to December 2023, most births in Bicol Region occurred in September with 9,169 (10.2%). It was followed by the months of January with 9,163 (10.1%), October with 7,876 (8.7%), and August with 7,838 (8.7%) registered births, respectively. The month of December had the least number of registered births with 5,806 (6.4%).

Registered marriages decreased to 17.0 percent

In January to December 2023, a total of 23,741 marriages were registered in Bicol Region. This figure decreased by 17.0% or 4,854 marriages compared with 23,964 marriages in the same period in 2022. The total registered marriages in January to December 2023 is equivalent to a crude marriage rate (CMR) of 3.8 or about 4 marriages per thousand population.

Camarines Sur had the most number of marriage registration among provinces in January to December 2023 with 8,311 (35.0%) registered marriages. It was followed by Albay with 6,013 (25.3%) registered marriages, the province of Masbate with 3,391 (14.3%) registered marriages, the province of Sorsogon with 2,596 (10.9%), and the province of Camarines Norte with 2,662 (11.2%). Catanduanes had the least number of registered marriages with 768 or 3.2% share to the total registered marriages in Bicol Region.

Most number of couples married in June
In January to December 2023, the month June recorded the most number of registered marriages with 3,257 or 13.7% share to the total marriages in Bicol Region. The month of April ranked second with 2,721 (11.5%), followed by the month of May with 2,453 (10.3%). On the other hand, the month of November had the least number of registered marriages with 566 (2.4%).

Around six deaths per thousand population 
Reported deaths in January to December 2023 reached 39,693, a decline of 4.5% from 41,573 registered deaths in the same period in 2022. This is equivalent to a crude death rate (CDR) of 6.3 or about 6 deaths per thousand population. In January to December 2023, an average of 109 deaths daily or 5 deaths per hour in Bicol Region.      
   
Most number of deaths reported in Camarines Sur
The most number of registered deaths occurred in Camarines Sur with 14,185 (35.7%), followed by Albay with 9,880 (24.9%), Sorsogon with 5,071 (12.8%), Camarines Norte with 4,442 (11.2%), Masbate with 4,163 (10.5%), and Catanduanes with 1,952 (4.9%). The combined registered deaths of these six (6) provinces accounted to 6.1% share to the total registered deaths in the country with 647,893.

More male deaths than female in January to December 2023
The most number of deaths in Bicol Region occurred among males with 22,728 or 57.3% registered deaths, females, on the other hand shared 42.7% or 16,965 deaths in the region which resulted in a sex ratio of 134 males per 100 females, which is indicative of higher survival rate of females than males. (Table 1)

DEFINITION OF TERMS AND CONCEPTS

Live Birth is a complete expulsion or extraction from its mother of a product of conception, irrespective of the duration of the pregnancy, which after such separation, breathes or shows any other evidence of life, such as beating of the heart, pulsation of the umbilical cord, or definite movement of voluntary muscles, whether or not the umbilical cord has been cut or the placenta is attached; each product of such a birth is considered liveborn.

Crude Birth Rate (CBR) refers to the number of live births per 1,000 mid-year population. 

Sex Ratio – the number to the males per 100 females in a population.

Marriage is a special contract of permanent union between a man and a woman entered into in accordance with law for the establishment of conjugal and family life.

Crude Marriage Rate (CMR) is a gross measure of the level of the relative frequency of marriages in an area for a given year. It expresses additions, by the formal means of legal marriage, being made to the married segment of the total population. This refers to the number of marriages per 1,000 mid-year population. 

Death refers to the permanent disappearance of all evidence of life at any time after live birth has taken place (postnatal cessation of vital function without capability of resuscitation).
Crude Death Rate (CDR) refers to the number of deaths per 1,000 mid-year population.