Results of the May 1, 2000 Census of Population and Housing indicated a total population of 380,250 persons in Occidental Mindoro. As compared to the 1995 Census of Population, which stood at 339,605 persons, this translates an increase of 40,645 persons.

The population growth rate of Occidental Mindoro declined to 2.45 percent. This was after recovering in 1990 to 1995 period (3.50 percent) from a continuous four census year decline starting 1970. If the current growth rate continues, the population of Occidental Mindoro was expected to double in the year 2028.

A corresponding increase in the number of households was observed, from 67,314 households in 1995 to 76,840 households in 2000. It depicted an average household size of 4.93 persons, slightly lower than the national average of five persons and also lower than the 1995 (5.02 persons).

Population of Occidental Mindoro ranked eighth in Southern Tagalog

Among the 11 provinces comprising Southern Tagalog, Occidental Mindoro was in eighth place, contributing only 3.22 percent to the 11.8 million population of Southern Tagalog. At the national level, the province made up about 0.50 percent of the total population of 76.5 million.

San Jose was the most populated municipality

Almost 54 percent of the total population resided in three municipalities of Occidental Mindoro namely: San Jose, the largest (29.19 percent), Sablayan (16.75 percent) and Mamburao (7.99 percent).

Half of the population were below 19 years

Occidental Mindoro had a median age of 19 years, (20 years in 1995). This meant that in 2000, about half of the population were below 19 years old.

Males outnumbered females

Males outnumbered their female counterparts with a sex ratio of 107.02 males for every 100 females. Sex ratio in 1995 was recorded at 106.8.

Dependency ratio down to 78.56

The proportion of the total population belonging to the age group 0 to 14 years in 2000 was 40.83 percent, a decrease from the 1995 figure of 42.63 percent. The productive age group (15-64 years) increased from 54.55 percent in 1995 to 56 percent in 2000, while the oldest group (65 years and over) accounted for 3.16 percent in 2000, from 2.83 percent in 1995.

As a result of the decrease in the proportion of population aged 0 to 14 years and the increase in the proportion 15 to 64 years, the dependency ratio dropped from 83.32 in 1995 to 78.56 in 2000.

More male voters

The number of voters in Occidental Mindoro was registered at 200,117 persons or 52.63 percent of the total population. The proportion of male (52.01 percent) voters was higher than that of the females (47.99 percent).

Almost half of the females were in the 15 to 49 age group

Out of 183,676 females, 88,271 or 48 percent were in the reproductive age group (15 to 49 years). The highest percentage of which, were those at age group 15 to 19 years (10.72 percent).

Females dominated higher levels of education

Almost one-half of the household population five years old and over had attended or completed elementary education (48.03 percent). About one-fourth had attended or finished high school while 9.73 percent with higher education.

There were more males than females who attended/finished elementary (53.63 percent), high school (50.04 percent) and post secondary (51.87 percent), while females dominated the rest.

Majority were Tagalog

Most of the household population in Occidental Mindoro classified themselves as Tagalog (67.77 percent). Bisaya/Binisaya and Ilocano contributed 7.42 percent and 7.07 percent each, respectively. While Mangyan, the natives of Mindoro constituted only 3.67 percent.

Married persons outnumbered single persons

Of the total population 10 years old and over, married persons made up about 45.34 percent as compared to single persons with 42.25 percent. The remaining 12.41 percent were either with other arrangements, widowed, separated/divorced or with unknown marital status.

More than one-fourth of the housing units had less than 10 square meter-floor area

Of the total occupied housing units, 27.44 percent had floor area of less than 10 square meters, 27.43 percent with 10 to 19 square meters, and 17.11 percent with 20 to 29 square meters. On the other hand, the proportion of housing units with floor area of 90 to 119 square meters was 3.28 percent.

Almost all of the housing units were single houses

Most of the occupied housing units were single houses (98.05 percent). Duplex and Multi-unit residential garnered only 0.83 percent and 0.78 percent, respectively. The remaining 0.34 percent were either commercial/industrial/agricultural or institutional living quarters.

Occupied housing units were made of light materials for the roof and walls

As to the construction materials used for the housing units, the outer walls were made of bamboo/sawali/cogon/nipa/anahaw (45.54 percent) while the roof was made of cogon/nipa/anahaw (47.05 percent).

Occupied housing units using both bamboo/sawali/cogon/nipa/anahaw for outer walls and cogon/nipa/anahaw for the roof constituted 37.66 percent.

Table1. Total Population Distribution of Top 10 Municipalities by Sex: Occidental Mindoro, 2000