(PNA file photo) MANILA - The Philippines' population for 2021 increased by 324,000 or a mere 0.3 percent compared to the 2020 data of 914,797 births. The Commission on Population and Development (PopCom) said on Monday the annual "natural increase" was the lowest since the period 1946 and 1947 when the population grew by 254,000. "Filipinos remained prudent by continuing to delay having children or forming families during the combined economic crisis and Covid-19 health emergency. Couples in growing numbers continue to avail of family planning commodities and services in all regions of the country, with eight million users of modern family planning methods in 2020, or an addition of about 500,000 from 2019," PopCom chief Dr. Juan Perez III explained in a livecast. The data came from PopCom's computations based on the Philippine Statistics Authority's preliminary reports from January 2020 to August 2021. With the estimate, the Filipino population will be