More people have left Metro Manila in the past 5 years than those coming into the National Capital Region, a Philippine Statistics Authority official said Tuesday. 

Adrian Cerezo, Assistant National Statistician of the PSA Social Sector, said some 500,000 Metro Manila residents have left the region in the last 5 years compared to the 381,000 that have come in during the same period. 

Housing remains the number one why people are leaving the NCR, data showed. 

“Hindi lang ito work from home pero housing related reasons. Karamihan ng mga lumalabas ng NCR ay dahil nakakabili sila ng bahay at lupa sa mga karatig [na probinsya], lalo na diyan sa Calabarzon,” he said in a TeleRadyo Serbisyo interview. 

“Prohibitive sa Metro Manila,” he added. 

A secondary reason for the exodus of residents, he said, is the living environment. “Ang uri ng antas ng pamumuhay ay pangalawang rason kung bakit may intensyon silang umalis ng NCR,” he said.

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A rider question on the 2022 Labor Force Survey also showed that 67,000 workers have transferred homes inside the region during the last 5 years. 

Cerezo noted it is also possible that many of the workers are still employed in NCR but now have homes outside the region. 

“Anecdotally, marami tayong mga taong ganun. The commute is bearable enough na dun sila bibili ng bahay at lupa tapas mag co-commute pabalik sa NCR. Marami ‘yung cases na dun nakakabili tapos ‘yung setup work from home and hybrid and there are also those who commute daily,” he said. 

Metro Manila or NCR is composed of 16 highly urbanized cities, with a population density of 21,765 persons per square kilometer, according to the PSA. This figure is almost 60 times of the population density of 363 persons per square kilometer posted at the national level. 

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