The population of Batanes, as of May 1, 2000, stood at 16,467 persons. This was higher by 1,441 persons or 9.6 percent compared to the 1990 figure or almost twice the population of the province in 1903. The population of Batanes declined at the rate of 1.1 percent annually during the first half of the nineties but grew at the rate of 3.25 percent per year from 1995 to 2000.

An estimated 30.2 million persons joined the labor force in July 1997, increasing by 497 thousand or 1.7 percent over 29.7 million last year. However, the corresponding labor force participation rate dropped from 66.3 percent to 65.7 percent.

An estimated 30.3 million persons constituted the labor force population in October 1997, up by 2.1 percent (628 thousand), over the October 1996 level of 29.6 million persons. However, the corresponding labor force participation rate moved down slightly from 65.8 percent to 65.5 percent.