CL population now 11.22 M

CITY OF SAN FERNANDO, Pampanga — The population of Central Luzon has reached 11.22 million in 2015, higher by over a million since the last census in 2010, the 2015 Census of Population (POPCEN 2015) report revealed yesterday.

Among the seven provinces comprising the region, Bulacan has the biggest population in 2015 with 3.29 million followed by Pampanga (excluding Angeles City) with 2.20 million, Nueva Ecija with 2.15 million, Tarlac with 1.37 million, Bataan with about 761,000, Zambales (excluding Olongapo City) with around 591,000, and Aurora with around 214,000.

The latest census also shows that Central Luzon’s population remains the third largest nationwide after Region 4-A or Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, and Quezon), and Metro Manila.

For the two highly urbanized cities in Region 3, Angeles City posted a population of around 412,000 while Olongapo City had around 233,000.

Despite the increase, Commission on Population Regional Director Eleanor Cura said the region’s Population Growth Rate (PGR) has dropped from 2.14 percent in 2010 to 1.92 percent in 2015 but is still among the those that are above the national PGR.

Cura attributes the lowered PGR to increased modern contraceptive prevalence rate due to continuous advocacy programs on reproductive health (RH) and family planning, among other factors.

Migration is also seen as one of the major causes in the increase of Central Luzon’s population, due to the region’s proximity to Metro Manila. (With a report from Mar T. Supnad)