Data from the Philippine Statistics Authority's (PSA) 2023 Full Year Official Poverty Statistics, based on the preliminary results of the 2023 Family Income and Expenditure Survey, showed that 11 of the 18 regions recorded significant decreases in poverty incidence last year.
The 2023 Full Year Official Poverty Statistics was initially released on 22 July 2024, covering data at the national level. The updated report includes poverty estimates disaggregated at the regional, provincial, and highly urbanized city levels.
"Out of the 18 regions, 11 recorded statistically significant decreases in poverty incidence among families in 2023 from 2021. Caraga showed the most notable improvement, with a poverty incidence among families of 14.9% in 2023 and a decrease of 11.0 percentage points from its poverty incidence of 25.9% in 2021," the PSA report said.
In addition, four regions exhibited downtrends in their poverty incidence among families in 2023 from 2021. However, these decreases are not statistically significant, the PSA added.
The consolidated report incorporated the poverty estimates for the newly established Negros Island Region (NIR) for years 2018, 2021, and 2023.
The inclusion of NIR led to adjustments in the poverty estimates of Region VI (Western Visayas) and Region VII (Central Visayas) in 2018 and 2021 to reflect their new composition.
Moreover, separate poverty estimates for Maguindanao del Norte and Maguindanao del Sur were included in the updated report.
Poverty threshold
In 2023, a family of five needed at least P13,873 per month to meet their minimum basic food and non-food needs. Nine regions had poverty thresholds higher than the national average.
Region III (Central Luzon) led with a poverty threshold of P16,046, followed by the National Capital Region (NCR) at P15,713 and Region IV-A (CALABARZON) at P15,457. On the other hand, Region XII (SOCCSKSARGEN) posted the lowest poverty threshold at P12,241.
Poverty incidence
The national poverty incidence among families in 2023 was recorded at 10.9%. This equals 2.99 million Filipino families without enough income to meet their basic food and non-food needs.
At the sub-national level, NCR remained the least poor among the regions, with a poverty incidence among families estimated at 1.1 percent in 2023. In contrast, Region IX (Zamboanga Peninsula) recorded the highest poverty incidence among families at 24.2% for the same year, followed by the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) at 23.5% and NIR at 22.6%.
Meanwhile, increasing trends were recorded in the poverty incidence among families in MIMAROPA at a 1.2 percentage point difference, NIR at a 4.4 percentage point difference, and Region IX (Zamboanga Peninsula) at a 0.8 percentage point difference, with only NIR exhibiting a statistically significant increase.
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