The Philippines’ population is poised to double to over 216 million by 2058 such that the country’s chief economist urged the full implementation of the reproductive health law to ensure that the increase in number of Filipinos will not hamper the government’s ultimate goal to reduce poverty incidence.

In a speech during World Population Day on Thursday, Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ernesto Pernia said the population growth rate already slowed to 1.76 percent a year since the last census conducted in 2015.

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“Under this growth rate, our population, which is now 108.1 million, is expected to double in 39 years,” said Pernia, who heads the state planning agency National Economic and Development Authority.

As such, the country had already become the 13th most populous country in the world, while Filipinos now account for 1.4 percent of the global population, Pernia said.

He said the jump in use of contraceptives during recent years was auguring well to slowing down women’s fertility rate in the country.

“Our total fertility rate has likewise gone down over time—from 6.4 in 1969, to 4.1 in 1994, and now down to 2.7 children (per woman of reproductive age) in 2019. Our target fertility rate is 2.1 children. This will be feasible if we can ratchet up modern contraceptive use,” Pernia said.

“This had gone up from 24.9 percent in 1993 to 40 percent in 2017. Fortunately, there are now more users of modern contraceptives. There are also now more rural than urban women who use modern family planning methods,” he added.

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