Philippines poverty rate drops to 10.9% in ’23 – report

The national poverty rate among families in the Philippines dropped to 10.9 per cent in 2023, with 2.99 million Filipino families living below the poverty line, The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) has reported on Thursday.

The updated report showed that a Filipino family needed at least PHP 13,873 per month to meet basic food and non-food needs in 2023.

Among regions, Central Luzon had the highest poverty threshold at PHP 16,046, followed by the National Capital Region (NCR) at PHP 15,713 and CALABARZON at PHP 15,457. SOCCSKSARGEN recorded the lowest poverty threshold at PHP 12,241.

NCR emerged as the least poor region with a poverty incidence of 1.1 per cent, while Zamboanga Peninsula recorded the highest at 24.2 per cent, followed by the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) at 23.5 per cent and Negros Island Region (NIR) at 22.6 per cent.

Eleven regions, including Caraga, registered significant decreases in poverty incidence from 2021 to 2023. Caraga showed the most notable improvement, with a decline of 11 percentage points.

Four other regions also recorded downtrends, while MIMAROPA, NIR, and Zamboanga Peninsula experienced increases in poverty incidence.

Attribution: Philippine Statistics Authority report

Subediting: M. S. Salama