Migration and Overseas Workers 2020 Census of Population and Housing (2020 CPH)

Reference Number: 

2023-016

Release Date: 

Monday, January 16, 2023

A. Lifetime Migration

About three in every 10 household population aged five years and over are lifetime migrants

  1. In 2020, out of the 97.60 million household population aged five years and over, 29.87 million (30.6%) were “lifetime migrants”. These are the persons whose current city/municipality of residence is different from the usual place of residence (city/municipality) of their mother at the time of their birth. In the 2020 CPH, the usual residence of the mother at the time of birth of the household member was used as proxy indicator/variable for the person’s place of birth. (Table 1 and Figure 1)
  2. Of the 29.87 million lifetime migrants, 8.23 million persons (8.4%) migrated from a different city/municipality but within the same province, 21.48 million persons (22.0%) migrated from a different province, and 167,032 persons (0.2%) migrated from a foreign country. (Table 1)

Table 1. Percent Distribution of Lifetime Migrants and Non-Migrants Based on Residence of the Mother at the Time of Birth of the Household Member: Philippines, 2020

  1. Approximately 67.45 million persons or 69.1 percent of the household population aged five years and over were “non-migrants”, that is, those persons whose current city/municipality of residence is the same as the usual residence of their mother at the time of their birth. (Table 1 and Figure 1)

Figure 1. Percent Distribution of the Household Population Five Years Old and Over by Residence of the Mother at the Time of Birth of the Household Member: Philippines, 2020

CALABARZON posts the biggest number of lifetime migrants

  1. Among the 17 regions, Region IV-A (CALABARZON) posted the biggest number of lifetime migrants, with 6.23 million persons or 20.8 percent of the total 29.87 million lifetime migrants. It was followed by the National Capital Region (NCR) with 5.47 million persons (18.3%), and Region III (Central Luzon) with 3.33 million persons (11.2%). The Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) had the smallest number of lifetime migrants, with 327,316 persons (1.1%). (Table 2 and Figure 2)
  2. The three regions with the biggest numbers of non-migrants were the same regions that had the biggest numbers of migrants. CALABARZON had 8.33 million non-migrants, followed by Central Luzon (7.83 million persons), and the NCR (6.61 million persons). (Table 2)
 

Table 2. Household Population by Residence of the Mother at the Time of Birth of the Household Member and Region of Current Residence in 2020

Figure 2. Percent Distribution of Lifetime Migrants by Region: Philippines, 2020

Proportion of female lifetime migrants is slightly higher than males

  1. Of the 29.87 million lifetime migrants, 51.5 percent were females while 48.5 percent were males.  Moreover, the biggest proportion of lifetime migrants was is in the age group 25 to 34 years (20.4%), followed by those in the age groups 35 to 44 years (18.9%), 15 to 24 years (15.3%), and 45 to 54 years (15.1%). (Table 3)
 

Table 3. Household Population of Lifetime Migrants by Age Group and Sex: Philippines, 2020

 

Nearly six in every 10 lifetime migrants crossed regional boundaries

  1. The total number of movements made during a given migration interval that had a common area of origin and a common area of destination is referred to as the “migration stream”.
  2. Among the 29.87 million lifetime migrants, 12.87 million persons (43.1%) moved within the region while 16.84 million persons (56.4%) crossed regional boundaries. The latter are also considered as “immigrants”. (Table 4)
  3. In terms of lifetime migration, the biggest “interregional migration stream” or movement of people between regions was from the NCR to CALABARZON, involving 1.50 million persons, followed by Region V (Bicol) to CALABARZON (755,357 persons), Bicol to NCR (651,581 persons), NCR to Central Luzon (627,719 persons), and Region VIII (Eastern Visayas) to NCR (528,030 persons). (Figure 3 and Table 4)
  4. Moreover, the five regions with “intraregional migration stream” or movement of people within the region that involved more than one million lifetime migrants were CALABARZON (1.72 million persons), Region VII (Central Visayas) and Central Luzon (1.31 million persons each), NCR (1.29 million persons), and Region VI (Western Visayas) with 1.14 million persons. (Table 4)

Figure 3. Lifetime Migration Stream by Region: Philippines, 2020 (In Thousand)

Table 4. Number of Intraregional and Interregional Migration by Region: Philippines, 2020

Table 4. Number of Intraregional and Interregional Migration by Region: Philippines, 2020

B. Migration Over the Past Five Years

About 95.5 percent of household population are non-movers over the past five years

  1. Of the 97.60 million household population aged five years and over, 93.16 million persons (95.5%) were “non-movers”. These are the persons whose city/municipality of residence in 2020 is the same five years ago, that is, in 2015.  Eleven regions registered proportions of non-movers higher than the national figure, with percentages ranging from 95.6 percent in Bicol to 98.3 percent in BARMM.  The region with the smallest proportion of non-movers was CALABARZON (92.8%). (Table 5 and Figure 4)
  2. On the other hand, 4.27 million persons or 4.4 percent of the household population five years old and over were “movers”. These are the persons whose city/municipality of residence in 2020 was different from their city/municipality of residence five years ago. (Table 5)

Table 5. Household Population Five Years Old and Over by Residence Five Years Ago (2015) and Region of Residence in 2020: Philippines, 2020

Figure 4. Proportion of Non-Movers to Household Population Five Years Old and Over in the Region: Philippines, 2020

Proportion of movers within and across the regions are almost the same in the past five years

  1. Among the movers, 2.07 million persons (48.5%) moved within the region (intraregional) while 2.02 million persons (47.4%) crossed regional boundaries (interregional). Moreover, immigrants or movers coming from foreign countries comprised 173,863 persons or 4.1 percent of the movers. (Figure 5 and Table 6)
  2. The five biggest intraregional migration streams during the past five years occurred within CALABARZON (428,259 persons), within NCR (239,822 persons), within Central Visayas (238,021 persons), within Central Luzon, (212,401 persons), and within Western Visayas (128,527 persons). These regions accounted for about three-fifths (60.3%) of the total number of household population aged five years and over who moved within the region from 2015 to 2020. (Table 6)
  3. On the other hand, the five biggest interregional migration streams from 2015 to 2020 were from NCR to CALABARZON (349,184 persons), NCR to Central Luzon (158,386 persons), CALABARZON to NCR (78,937 persons), Bicol to CALABARZON (52,551 persons), and Central Luzon to NCR (43,658 persons). (Table 6)

Figure 5. Migration Stream in the Past Five Years by Region: Philippines, 2020 (In Thousand)

Table 6. Number of Intraregional and Interregional Movers by Region: Philippines, 2020

Table 6. Number of Intraregional and Interregional Movers by Region: Philippines, 2020

Three-fifths of movers in the past five years are domestic long-distance movers and about one-third are domestic short-distance movers

  1. Among the movers, about three-fifths (62.3%) were “domestic long-distance movers”, that is, those persons, in May 2020 resided in a province, which is different from their province of residence in May 2015. Moreover, approximately one-third of the movers (33.6%) were “domestic short-distance” movers, or those whose residence in May 2015 was in another city or municipality but within the same province of their residence in 2020. (Figure 6 and Tables 5 and 7)
  2. Meanwhile, “immigrants” or those who resided in a foreign country in 2015 but were reported as residents of the Philippines in 2020 were accounted for 4.1 percent.
 

Figure 6. Percent Distribution of Movers for the Past Five Years by Type: Philippines, 2020

More domestic movers in the Philippines over the past five years are residing in CALABARZON, NCR, and Central Luzon

  1. Of the domestic short-distance movers, 295,676 persons (20.6%) resided in CALABARZON, 201,641 persons (14.1%) in Central Visayas, and 162,631 persons (11.3%) in Central Luzon. These three regions comprised nearly half (46.0%) of all the domestic short-distance movers in the Philippines during the past five years. (Table 7)
  2. On the other hand, 710,073 persons (26.7%) of the domestic long-distance movers resided in CALABARZON, 440,870 persons (16.6%) in NCR, and 330,050 persons (12.4%) in Central Luzon. These three regions accounted for more than half (55.7%) of all the domestic long-distance movers in the country from 2015 to 2020. (Table 7)
 

Table 7. Number and Percent Distribution of Domestic Short- and Long-Distance Movers and Immigrants from Foreign Country of Household Population by Region: Philippines, 2020

C. Overseas Workers

Overseas workers comprise 2.6 percent of the household population 15 years old and over

  1. In 2020, about 1.97 million persons or 2.6 percent of the household population 15 years old and over were overseas workers. Of this total overseas workers, 51.8 percent were females while 48.2 percent were males. (Table 8)
  2. Of the total overseas workers by age group, the biggest number of overseas workers was in the ages 30 to 34 years with 339,098 persons (17.2%), followed by those in the age groups 35 to 39 years with 315,291 persons (16.0%), 25 to 29 years with 294,926 persons (15.0%), and 40 to 44 years with 268,335 persons (13.6%). Other age groups recorded less than 10.0 percent each. (Table 8)
 

Table 8. Overseas Worker Population 15 Years Old and Over by Age Group and Sex: Philippines, 2020

CALABARZON registers the biggest proportion of overseas workers

  1. Among all regions, CALABARZON accounted for the biggest proportion of overseas workers, with 18.9 percent, followed by Central Luzon with 14.4 percent, and NCR with 11.3 percent. (Figure 7 and Table 9)
 

Figure 7. Distribution of Overseas Workers by Region: Philippines, 2020

 

Table 9. Household Population of Overseas Workers by Sex and Region of Residence: Philippines, 2020

   

DENNIS S. MAPA, Ph.D.
Undersecretary
 National Statistician and Civil Registrar General

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