1. Population.

Based on the 1990 census, Negros Occidental has a population of 2,25 million (see Table 1 for population distribution). The annual population growth rate based on the last two census years 1.58%. Except for Bacolod City, the capital city, which is totally classified as urban area, more that two-thirds of the population are in the rural areas. Bacolod City ranks fourth among the twenty most densely populated cities in the Philippines. The concentration of population appears to be in four contiguous areas, namely: Bago City to Silay City in the northwest, Victorias City to the north, Cadiz City to San Carlos City at the tip to the northeast of province and the towns of Himamaylan-Cauyan-Kabankalan City in the southwest of Negros island.

2. Labor and Employment.

Household population 15 years old and over is 1.34 million accounting for 59.5% of the total. Of this sum, 705,248 or 52.7% are gainfully employed. The distribution of gainful worker by industry is as follows:

Table 1: Population distribution by sector
 

Industry Group	% Distribution
Agriculture, fishery and forestry	47.30
Community, social and personal services	16.00
Wholesale and retail trade	11.00
Manufacturing	6.50
Transportation and communication	4.50
Construction	3.00
Financing, insurance, real estate and business services	1.50
Mining and quarrying	0.60
Others	9.60
Total	100.00

About 688,500 or 51.4% of the household population 15 years old and over are in the labor force (Table 2). More than half of those in the labor force are in the rural areas. Of the 351,843 persons in the labor force in the rural areas, 86.4% are employed. However, with the drought brought about by El Nino and the Asian liquidity crisis, these figures cannot hold true. Unemployment in the rural areas could run as high 50%. There is disguised unemployment that has to be considered. Rural agrarian work cannot count on fixed hours and productivity, as farmers cannot work without water. In the manufacturing sector, sugar mill workers are working only half of the year during harvest. Handicrafts labor, which is one of the employers of Negros Occidental workers, are now shaven-off by cheaper cost competition from neighboring developing nations in the Southeast Asian region. 

Table 2. Household Population 15 Yrs Old & Over by Employment Status and by Sector 

Table 3. Land Area and Population, by Sector, by District, and by City/Municipality