More than 70 percent of the 3,404 live births in the province of Catanduanes last year were born to mothers who were not married, the preliminary birth statistics released by the Philippine Statistical Authority (PSA) showed.
According to the PSA Catanduanes Provincial Statistical Office, a total of 2,489 babies, or 73.1 percent of all registered births in the province in 2025, were non-marital children or born out of wedlock to mothers with usual residence in the island.
The balance of 915 births, or 26.9 percent, were born to married parents, the report said.
Of the total registered births, 423 babies (12.4 percent) were born to teenage mothers aged 19 years and below, it added, while the largest proportion of births was recorded among mothers aged 23 to 27 years, accounting for 27.2 percent or 925 births.
Table 1. Legitimacy Status of Actual Live Births by Age Group of Mother: 2025
| Age Group of Mother | Non-Marital Child | Marital Child |
| 43 and above | 10 | 23 |
| 38-42 | 103 | 120 |
| 33-37 | 230 | 289 |
| 28-32 | 491 | 324 |
| 23-27 | 781 | 144 |
| 18-22 | 689 | 15 |
| 13-17 | 185 | 0 |
A higher number of births across all 11 municipalities in Catanduanes were non-marital, with Bagamanoc having the highest percentage with 84.8% or 89 babies out of the total 105 births, followed by Gigmoto with 81.5%.
Table 2. Percentage of Non-Marital Births by Municipality: 2025
| Municipality | Percentage of
Marital Babies |
Percentage
of Non-Marital Babies |
| Bagamanoc | 15.2% | 84.8% |
| Gigmoto | 18.5% | 81.5% |
| Caramoran | 23.7% | 76.3% |
| San Andres | 24.0% | 76.0% |
| Baras | 24.1% | 75.9% |
| Panganiban | 26.3% | 73.7% |
| Pandan | 26.5% | 73.5% |
| Viga | 27.9% | 72.1% |
| Virac | 30.2% | 69.8% |
| San Miguel | 30.5% | 69.5% |
| Bato | 33.2% | 66.8% |
Eleven births per thousand population
In 2025, Catanduanes recorded a total of 3,404 live births which corresponds to a crude birth
rate of 11.84 or eleven (11) births per thousand population in the province.
The municipality of San Andres had the highest crude birth rate with 14.62 or 14 births per thousand population while Bagamanoc had the lowest crude birth rate with 8.82 or 8 births per thousand population.
Table 3. Actual Number of Live Births by Municipality, by Residence of Mother, and Crude Birth Rate: 2025
|
Province/ Municipality |
Number of Live Births
by Place of Residence of Mother |
Projected
Population for 2025 |
Crude Birth Rate |
| a | b | (a/b) x 1000 | |
| CATANDUANES | 3,404 | 292,159 | 11.84 |
| Bagamanoc | 105 | 11,902 | 8.82 |
| Baras | 166 | 14,080 | 11.79 |
| Bato | 244 | 23,975 | 10.18 |
| Caramoran | 397 | 34,268 | 11.59 |
| Gigmoto | 108 | 9,107 | 11.86 |
| Pandan | 272 | 22,843 | 11.91 |
| Panganiban | 114 | 8,484 | 13.44 |
| San Andres | 567 | 38,775 | 14.62 |
| San Miguel | 197 | 16,874 | 11.67 |
| Viga | 287 | 23,557 | 12.18 |
| Virac | 947 | 88,294 | 10.73 |
Municipality of Virac with the highest occurrence of births recorded
The capital town of Virac had the highest number of births, with 947 babies or 27.4 percent of the
total births with San Andres at second with 567 births or 16.4 percent.
On the other hand, the Bagamanoc had the fewest births with only 105 babies born, or 3.0 percent of the total births in the province for the same year.
More males were born than females
Out of the total 3,404 live births, 53.6 percent were males while 46.4 percent were females, resulting in
a birth sex ratio of 116 males for every 100 females born.
Across all municipalities, male babies consistently outnumbered female babies, with the male
share ranging from 50.4 percent in Bato to 58.8 percent in Panganiban.
Table 4: Actual Number of Births by Municipality, Residence of Mother in Catanduanes and by Sex, 2025
|
Municipality |
Male |
Female |
Total |
Percent Contribution to Total |
| Virac | 506 | 441 | 947 | 27.82% |
| San Andres | 303 | 264 | 567 | 16.66% |
| Caramoran | 225 | 172 | 397 | 11.66% |
| Viga | 153 | 134 | 287 | 8.43% |
| Pandan | 138 | 134 | 272 | 7.99% |
| Bato | 123 | 121 | 244 | 7.17% |
| San Miguel | 104 | 93 | 197 | 5.79% |
| Baras | 89 | 77 | 166 | 4.86% |
| Panganiban | 67 | 47 | 114 | 3.35% |
| Gigmoto | 62 | 46 | 108 | 3.17% |
| Bagamanoc | 55 | 50 | 105 | 3.08% |
| Total | 1,825 | 1,579 | 3,404 | 100.00% |
49 births per thousand women aged 15-47 years old
In 2025, the province of Catanduanes had a computed general fertility rate (GFR) of 48.17 or approximately 48 births per thousand women who are aged 15-49 years old.
The Municipality of San Andres had the highest GFR of 56 births per thousand women aged 15-49 years old, while Bagamanoc had the lowest GFR of almost 38 births per thousand women in the fertility age.
99 in 100 birth deliveries were medically attended
Out of 3,404 births, 98.9 percent or 3,366 were attended by health professionals such as physicians, nurses and midwives while the remaining 1.1 percent of births or 38 were delivered by hilot, traditional birth attendants and others.