NSO: Number of foreign citizens residing in Phl now over 177,000

MANILA, Philippines -  The number of foreign citizens who have resided in the Philippines has reached over 177,000 as of May 2010, the National Statistics Office (NSO) reported recently.

“Based on the 2010 Census of Population and Housing (CPH), the number of foreign citizens in the country was at 177,368 as of May 2010,” the NSO report said.   

The agency said the number represents 0.2 percent of the country’s total household population of 92,097,978.

The number included foreigners who have resided or were expected to reside in the Philippines for at least a year from their arrival.

It did not include members of diplomatic missions and non-Filipino members of international organizations, and civilian citizens of foreign countries who have their usual residence in the Philippines.

The agency noted that three in every 10 foreigners, or 31.1 percent of the total number of foreign citizens in the country were residing in the National Capital Region.

The Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao had the second biggest number, accounting for 22.3 percent of the total foreign citizens in the country. It was followed by Central Luzon with nine percent.

Calabarzon (Cavite-Laguna-Batangas-Rizal-Quezon) ranked fourth with 8.4 percent while Central Visayas placed fifth with six percent of the total number of foreign citizens.

The Zamboanga Peninsula had the least number of foreigners at 0.5 percent.

By country of origin, the NSO said the largest number of foreign nationals in the country came from the United States with 29,959 individuals followed by China with 28,750.

Japan came in third with 11,583; India was fourth with 8,963, followed by Canada with 4,689 persons.