CHAPTER II

DEMOGRAPHY
Population
Misamis Occidental has a total population of 567,642 in 2010 representing an
increase of 35,962 from the population in 2007 of 531,680. This figure is translated to an
annual growth rate of 1.32 percent, a decrease of 0.21 percentage point from the 1990 to
1995 period. At this rate, the province is expected to double its population in 54 years.
The number of house was recorded at 99,901, higher by 8,491 households from 1995.
This gave an average household size of 4.86 persons, a slight decrease from the 1995
(5.01) and national average (5 persons).
Population Distribution
Among the three cities and 14 municipalities in the province, Ozamiz City has the
largest population size of 110,420 which comprised 22.69 percent of the total population.
This is followed by Oroquieta City and Tangub City with population of 59,843 and
49,695 respectively. Among the municipalities, Clarin has the largest population with
29,712 , closely followed by Plaridel with 29,279 persons.
The municipality of Concepcion is the fastest growing area in terms of population
growth rate of 7.06%, although its actual population remains the lowest. The two
municipalities with negative growth rate are Panaon and Sapang Dalaga with 3.18% and
3.57% respectively.
Population By Age-Group
The province has a young age structure. Age group 0-14 comprised 35.81% of the
population. The productive age group whose age range from 15 to 64 constituted 59.13
%. The older age group which comprises age group 65 and over constituted roughly 5.06
percent. The median age in 2000 is 22, which means that half of the population of the
province is below 22 years old and half of it is above 22 years old.

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The effect of the provinces young age structure is high dependency ratio. The
overall dependency ratio in 2000 was 69, which meant that for every 100 persons
engaged in economic activity, 69 are dependent for economic support. This ratio is lower
than the 1995 dependency ratio of 71.58.
Population by Sex
The male population slightly outnumbers their female counterpart with a sex ratio
of 101.8, indicating an almost even distribution between male and female population in
the province. There are more male than female in the 0-44 age group, while more female
in the 45 years and over.
Urban-Rural Distribution
Records from previous censal survey showed, that the province was
predominantly rural. In 1995, rural population accounted for 68.1% and 31.9% urban,
while in year 2000, 74% are living in the rural areas and 26% are in the urban areas.

RURAL-URBAN DISTRIBUTION

URBAN
26%

RURAL
74%

Population Density
If the provinces population were evenly distributed equally to the total land area
of 1939.32 sq. kms., there would be 260 persons per square kilometer in 2000, which was

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higher than the population density of 237 in 1995. However, population density in the
urban areas is higher than in the rural areas. This convergence towards urban areas has
been traced to the lack of social and economic activities in the rural areas, the bias of
investments in more developed areas, low access to basic services, low agricultural
productivity and others.
Degree Holders in the Province
Of the total household population five years and over, 44.49 % had attended or
completed elementary education. Three out of ten persons (28.17%) had either attended
or finished high school while 10.28% had attended college education. Almost four
percent were academic degree holders. On the other hand, those who had attended or
finished high school, college, and post baccalaureate were predominantly females. About
three out of five academic holders were females.
Household Population
About 41.78 % of the household population in the province classified themselves
as Bisaya/Binisaya. About two out of five persons considered themselves as Cebuano.
Other ethic groups included Boholano(9.63%) and Subanen/Subanon (4.38%).
Marital Status
Less than half (42.95%) of those who were 10 years and over were single, while
45.81% were married. Those with common-law/live-in arrangement increased from
0.94% in 1995 to 3.94% in 2000. The remaining 7.3 were either widowed,
divorced/separated or with unknown marital status.
Occupied Housing
There were 98,492 housing units in the province of which 98,455 were occupied.
This registered an increase of 24.6 percentage points from 1990 and recorded a ratio of
1.01 household per occupied housing unit or a ratio of 4.94 persons per occupied housing
unit. Almost all (94.9%) of the occupied housing units were single houses. About 30%
were relatively new (built from 1996 to 2000).

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