Summary

The Philippines is an archipelagic country covering 300,000 square kilometers of land with a population of 92,337,852. It is also one of the most rapidly urbanizing countries in Asia, with an annual growth rate of 2.26% for the period 2005-2010, placing the percentage of the total urban population at 49% as of 2010. It is projected that by 2050, 56% of Filipinos would already be living in urban areas. Urban population growth is driven mostly by rural-urban migration as well as internal growth. Cities provide migration’s “pull factors” such as higher wages, better educational opportunities and accessible basic infrastructure and services, while rural areas provide the “push factors” - such as decreasing agricultural productivity and continuing conflict, especially in southern Philippines. Relatedly, the country’s economic outputs are attributed mostly to urban areas, with incomes estimated to be 2.3 times higher than rural areas.