Four Out of Ten Persons in Bicol  Region Were Never Married

Based on the 2020 Census of Population and Housing (2020 CPH), Bicol Region had a household population of 6,067,290 persons. Of this total, the household population ten years old and over comprised 77.3 percent or 4,690,965 persons.

Of the 4,690,965 persons aged ten years and over in  2020, 2.0 million persons (42.7%) were  never married, while 1.7  million  persons (36.7%) were married. The rest of the population was categorized as follows: in common-law/live-in marital arrangement with 14.4  percent,  widowed with 4.9 percent, and divorced/separated/annulled with 1.3 percent (Figure 1).

Number of married persons increases  in 2020 while couples in common-law/live-in marital arrangements  also increases

A decline of 2.9 percentage points in single or never-married persons was observed between 2015 and 2020 from 45.6 percent in 2015 to 42.7 percent in 2020 (Table 2).

The number of married persons increased by 36,517 from 1.69 million in 2015 to 1.72 million in 2020 (Table  1).

Among individuals in common-law/live-in marital arrangements, the percentage increased to 14.4 percent in 2020 from 10.1 percent in 2015. The same trend was observed among those divorced/separated/annulled, registering 1.3 percent in 2020 from 1.2 percent in 2015 and  among widowed which registered 4.9 percent in 2020 from 4.8 percent in 2015 (Table 2).

In terms of distribution by sex, 46.4 percent of male household population 10 years old and over were single, while 38.9 percent of female household population 10 years old and over were single. On the other hand, 36.3 percent of males and 37.2 percent of females were married. Similarly, 14.1 percent of males and 14.6 percent of females were  in common-law/live-in marital  arrangements. The remaining percentage was distributed between divorced and widowed, reaching 1.0 percent for divorced/separated/annulled males and 1.7 percent for their female counterparts. Meanwhile, the percentage of widowed males and females was 2.2 percent and 7.6 percent, respectively. (Table 2)

There are more males than females among the never married persons

Among the never-married persons, a higher proportion of males (54.7%) were reported in
2020.

Meanwhile, the proportion of females was higher than males among married persons (50.3%), common-law/live-in marital arrangements (50.5%), widowed (77.6%) and divorced/separated/annulled (58.8%) (Table 3).

Three in every five married persons are aged 30-54 years

Among married persons, 60.4 percent were aged 30-54 years, broken down with  the following age groups: 40-44 years with 13.1 percent, 35-39 years with 12.4 percent, 45-49 years with 12.2 percent, 50-54 years with 11.6 percent, and 30-34 years with 11.1 percent. (Figure 2)

Among married males, the highest proportion was reported in the age group 40-44 years with 13.2 percent. Likewise, married females had a higher proportion among age group 40-44 years with 13.1 percent. (Figure 2)

Among the age groups of individuals in common-law/live-in arrangements, the highest proportion was reported in age group 25-29 years with 20.5 percent. The same distribution was reported among males and females with 20.2 percent and 20.7, respectively (Figure 2).

The proportion of persons reported as widowed was higher among females than males in ages 65 and over. Meanwhile, the highest proportion of divorced/separated/annulled was observed in age group 40-44 years with  14.0 percent and is  higher among males.

The statistics presented in this report were based on the information provided by the respondent or any responsible household member who answered the questions and gave correct information about all the household members.

In the 2020 CPH, data on the marital status of every household member 10 years old and over were collected by asking the respondents, "Is single, married, common-law/live-in, widowed, or divorced/separated/annulled?".