The result of the 2015 Census of Population (POPCEN 2015) shows that the total population of Sulu reached 824,731 persons as of August 01, 2015, which was projected at 815,600 persons only. Based on this result, 50.6 percent are women and 49.4 percent were men. On the other hand, 45-74 year old men outnumbered women in the same age group. By 2020, Sulu’s total population is projected to reach 918,500 persons, still with more women than men.

The population of women is 2.3 percent higher than that of men. This resulted to a sex ratio of 102:100, which means that there are 102 women for every 100 men in Sulu.

Figure 1. Percent Distribution of Household Population by Municipality and by Sex, Sulu: 2015

Philippine Statistics Authority, POPCEN 2015

There are also more women than men recorded in the municipalities of Luuk, Parang, Pata Panglima Estino (New Panamao), Old Panamao, Patikul, Jolo, Siasi, Omar, Maimbung, Pandami, Tapul, Pangutaran and Lugus, while more men were registered in the municipalities of Hadji Panglima Tahil (Marunggas), Indanan, Kalingalan Caluang, Tongkil and Talipao (Figure 1 and Table 2).

Figure 2. Percent Distribution of Household Population by Marital Status and by Sex, Sulu: 2015

Philippine Statistics Authority, POPCEN 2015

 

As shown above (Figure 2 and Table 3), the number of single or never married women in the province of Sulu is more than that of single or never married men comprising 50.3 percent and 49.7 of the provincial household population, respectively.

Women comprised 50.1 percent, while men are 49.9 percent of the married population. In summary, there are more women than men in all marital status.

Table 4 shows that Sulu province has more women than men, specifically in the age-group from under one to 44 years old and 80 years old and over. On the other hand, there are more men in the age-group of 45-79 years old.

The youth population from age-group 15-24 years old reached a total of 160,990 persons comprising 19.5 percent of the total household population of Sulu, of which, 10.0 percent are women and 9.5 percent is men. Among the working age-group 15-64 years old and voting age-group 18 years old and over, the results show that there are more women than men. However, in the age-group 45-79 years old, there are more men than women, while in the age-group 80 years old and over, percentage of women are slightly higher than that of men.

Table 5 and Figure 3 show the top 10 religious affiliation of the total population of Sulu. The top one religious affiliation in the province is Islam which is 98.8 percent of the total population, of which 50.6 percent are women and 49.4 percent are men. This is followed by followers of Roman Catholic with 0.6 percent of the total population, of which men is more than women, as well as in Tribal Religions, Evangelicals (Philippine Council of Evangelical Churches), Iglesia ni Cristo and Jehovah’s Witness. On the other hand, there are more women than men in Miracle Revival Church of the Philippines, Other Religious Affiliations, Other Protestants, while in International One Way Outreach, percentage of men and women are equally distributed.

Figure 3. Percent Distribution of Total Population by Religious Affiliation and by Sex, Sulu: 2015

Philippine Statistics Authority, POPCEN 2015

 

In determining the school attendance rate, the age group to be considered is the household population 10 – 24 years old. There are 395,261 persons from this age group and 72.7 percent of which were currently attending school in 2015-2016. There are more women than men who were currently attending school.

A person can be considered literate if he/she is able to read and write a simple message in any language or dialect. The age group to be considered in determining the literacy rate is the household population 10 years old and over. There are 588,816 persons who belong to this age group and 83.0 percent of which are considered literate. Out of this literate household population, 51.0 percent were women and the remaining 49.0 percent are men, as shown in Table 7.

Table 8 shows that there are more women than men who pursued High School, Post-Secondary, College Undergraduate, Academic Degree Holder and Post Baccalaureate, while there are more men than women who has No Grade Completed and pursued Elementary among the household population age 5 years old and over.

Among the overseas workers age 15 years old and over, there are more men than women in all major occupation groups except among managers and professionals.

The population of gainful workers age 15 years old and over are dominated by men (73.6 percent, while women at 26.4 percent). As shown Table 10, more than half or 52.3 percent of the gainful workers are skilled agricultural, forestry and fishery workers, of which 86.4 percent are men and 13.6 percent are women.

About 93.8 percent of the households in Sulu are headed by men, while 6.2 percent are headed by women. There are also more men household head than women in all age groups.

Figure 4. Percent Distribution of Household by Age-Group and by Sex, Sulu: 2015

Philippine Statistics Authority, POPCEN 2015

Technical notes:

Total population is the sum of the household population and institutional population. It also includes Filipinos in Philippine embassies, consulates, and missions abroad.

Household population comprises of persons who belong to a household, the basic criterion of which is the usual place of residence or the place where the person usually resides.

Marital status is the personal status of each individual with reference to the marriage laws or customs of the country.

Religious affiliation is a particular system of beliefs, attitudes, emotions, and behaviors constituting man’s relationship with the powers and principalities of the universe.

School attendance rate the proportion of persons 5 to 24 years old who were attending school during the School Year June 2015 to March 2016 to school-age population (5 to 24 years old)

Simple literacy rate the proportion of persons aged 10 years and over who are able to read and write a simple message in any language or dialect.

Grade/year completed the highest grade or year completed in school, college or university.