The Philippines Has the Most Number of Singles in Southeast Asia
Are more Filipinos singing the Miley Cyrus anthem these days?
I can buy myself flowers
Write my name in the sand
Talk to myself for hours
Say things you don't understand
I can take myself dancing
And I can hold my own hand
Yeah, I can love me better than you can
Data from the UN Population Division for 2021 posted on SeaAsia Stats Facebook page shows that the Philippines tops the list of Southeast Asian countries with the most number of single people (49 percent)--almost half its population. The definition adopted for 'single' encompasses individuals who are unmarried, divorced, separated, or widowed.
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The UN report also showed that there are many people embracing singlehood in Brunei (44.9 percent), Malaysia (44.69 percent), and Cambodia (44.60 percent). Meanwhile, folks in Timor-Leste appear to be swooning over the altar, with only 13 percent embracing the solo lifestyle.
Over 1.6 billion singles have been documented globally in UN marriage data spanning from 1970 to 2021, highlighting a significant and growing demographic.
Findings from the Philippine Statistics Authority’s (PSA) 2020 Census of Population and Housing offer an interesting insight into the evolving relationship dynamics in the Philippines. It revealed a slight decline in the number of single Filipinos to 34.26 million in 2020, down from the 34.54 million Filipino singles noted in 2015.
The total count of married individuals rose by 1.52 million, from 32.35 million in 2015 to 33.87 million in 2020. A 5.5 percentage point increase in couples opting for common-law or live-in relationship arrangements was also observed. This trend reflects the growing acceptance and prevalence of non-traditional, non-marital relationships and changing attitudes toward cohabitation outside of formal marriage.
In 2020, out of 86.33 million individuals aged ten and older, 34.26 million (39.7%) had never married, and 33.87 million (39.2%) were in a marital union. The remaining segments of the population included 14.7 percent in common-law or live-in partnerships, 4.5 percent widowed, and 1.9 percent divorced, separated, or annulled.
