According to the data generated from the Decentralized Vital Statistics System (DVSS) of the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) Guimaras Provincial Statistical Office, the province of Guimaras registered 1,153 live births in the second quarter of 2024. Of these births, 53.77 percent or 620 births were female and 46.23 percent, or 533 births were male, with a gender gap of 7.55 percent or a sex ratio of 86 males to every 100 females.

In the second quarter of 2024, the number of registered live births increased by 8.36 percent compared to the same period in 2023. The total number of live births grew from 1,064 in Q2 2023 to 1,153 in Q2 2024. Female births experienced an increase from 538 in Q2 2023 to 620 in Q2 2024, while male births also rose from 526 to 533 during the same period.

Registered Births by Municipality, Guimaras: Q2 2023 & Q2 2024

In the second quarter of 2023, the municipality of Jordan was the leading contributor to the provincial total, comprising over half with 62.69 percent or 667 registered births. Nueva Valencia ranked second, contributing 21.90 percent with 233 live births, followed by Buenavista, which recorded 150 births, making up 14.10 percent of the total. Moreover, Sibunag reported fewer births, with only 8 registrations, translating to 0.75 percent of the provincial total, while San Lorenzo recorded the fewest births, with 6 live births, accounting for 0.56 percent.

In the second quarter of 2024, the total number of registered live births in Guimaras, based on the usual residence of the mother, reached 1,153. The Municipality of Jordan recorded the highest number of births, accounting for 811 or 70.34 percent of the provincial total. Nueva Valencia followed with 165 births, contributing 14.31 percent, while Buenavista registered 157 births, representing 13.62 percent. In contrast, San Lorenzo recorded 13 births, with a 1.13 percent share, and Sibunag had the fewest, with just 7 registered births, making up 0.61 percent of the total.

San Lorenzo records fastest growth on registered births in Q2 2024

Three municipalities recorded increases in registered live births in the second quarter of 2024 compared to the same period last year. San Lorenzo experienced the fastest growth with 116.67 percent increase, followed by Jordan, with 21.59 percent growth, and Buenavista with 4.67 percent increase. On the other hand, Nueva Valencia and Sibunag recorded declines of 29.18% and 12.50%, respectively. See table 1.

In the second quarter of 2023, a total of 1,064 live births were registered, with 51.85 percent (538 births) female and 48.15 percent (526 births) male, resulting in a gender gap of 1.13 percent.

In Jordan and Nueva Valencia, female births outnumbered male births, with gender gaps of 1.65 percent and 5.58 percent, respectively.

Conversely, Buenavista and Sibunag experienced a male-dominated distribution, with gender gaps of 2.67 percent and 25.00 percent, respectively.

Notably, San Lorenzo reported no female live births during this period.

In comparison to the second quarter of 2023, registered birth in Guimaras in the second quarter of 2024 showed female dominance, with a recorded gender gap of 7.55 percent. Four out of five municipalities registered more female live births than males, as outlined in Table 3.

Among the municipalities with a female majority, San Lorenzo exhibited the largest gender gap at 23.08 percent, resulting in a sex ratio of 63 males for every 100 female live births. Jordan followed with a gender gap of 9.49 percent, corresponding to a sex ratio of 83 males per 100 female live births. Buenavista and Nueva Valencia had smaller gender gaps of 3.18 percent and 3.03 percent, respectively, both yielding a sex ratio of 94 males for every 100 female live births.

Only the municipality of Sibunag recorded more male live births with a big gender gap of 42.86 percent or a sex ratio of 250 males per 100 females.

Registered Births by Month of Occurrence

The registration of births by month in the second quarter of 2024 showed that April had the highest number of female live births, with 284 recorded. In comparison, both May and June each reported 168 female live births (see Figure 4).

Meanwhile, April recorded the highest number of male live births, with 204, while May recorded the fewest, with just 162 male live births.

Registered Births by Month: Q2 2024

In the second quarter of 2024, the highest number of live births was recorded in April, with 488 registrations, while May had the lowest, with 330 registered live births. See Figure 5.

TECHNICAL NOTES 

Vital Statistics – are derived from information obtained at the time when the occurrences of vital events and their characteristics are inscribed in civil register. Vital acts and events are the birth, death and marriages, and all such events that have something to do with an individual’s entrance and departure from life together with the changes in civil status that may occur to a person during his lifetime. Recording of these events in the civil register is known as a vital or civil registration and the resulting documents are vital records.

Live Birth – is a complete expulsion or extraction from its mother of a product of conception, irrespective of the duration of the pregnancy, which after such separation, breathes or shows any other evidence of life, such as the beating of heart, pulsation of the umbilical cord has been cut or the placenta is attached, each product of such a birth is considered live born.