Farmers, Fishermen and Children consistently posted the highest poverty incidence among basic sectors - PSA

The map above shows the poverty incidence in the country. This is the number of households living below the poverty threshold. As of 2017, it was 21.6%.^[1]

The poverty line for 2014 marked a per capita income of 100,534 pesos a year.^[2] According to the data from the National Statistical Coordination Board, more than one-quarter of the population fell below the poverty linethe first semester of 2014, an approximate 78 percent increase since 2013.^[3]

The country’s poverty incidence for the whole of 2015 declined to 21.6 percent from 25.2 percent in 2012 and 26.3 percent in 2009, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported.

The decrease in poverty has been rapid and continuous, compared with broadly similar numbers in the 1980s,^[4]such as People's Republic of China (PRC), Thailand, Indonesia or Vietnam. National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) deputy director general Rosemarie Edillon attributed this to a generally low and stable inflation, improved incomes and higher employment rates during the period.^[5]

The government planned to eradicate poverty as stated in the Philippines Development Plan 2011-2016 (PDP). The PDP for those six years are an annual economic growth of 7-8% and the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Under the MDGs, Philippines committed itself to halving extreme poverty from a level of 33.1% in 1991 to 16.6% by 2015.^[4]

Poverty statistics based on income and expenditures[edit]

The Annual Poverty Indicator Survey, or APIS, is a survey held nationwide, administered by the National Statistics Office, World Bank Mission, and the United Nations Development Programme. It provides data on the different non-income indicators related to poverty and is held every year except for years when the Family Income and Expenditure Survey, or FIES, is being administered.^[6] The survey provides data on the socio-economic profile and the living conditions of families in 78 provinces and all cities and municipalities of Metro Manila. The Family Income and Expenditure Survey, on the other hand, provides the same major and specified details of expenditures but over a larger sample area extending to provinces and municipalities across the Philippines.^[7]

Poverty and food threshold[edit]

The poverty threshold, also known as the poverty line, is the minimum income required to meet basic food needs and other non-food requirements such as clothing, housing, transportation, health, and education expenses.^[8] The food threshold is the minimum income required to meet basic food needs and satisfy the nutritional requirements set by the Food and Nutrition Research Institute (FNRI) to ensure that one remains economically and socially productive.^[8] Recent estimates for the poverty and food thresholds has been consistently increasing. The food threshold, being the estimate for minimum food expenditures, consistently comprises around 70% of the minimum income requirement or poverty threshold.

Compiled average annual per capita poverty and food threshold in the Philippines based on the results of the Family Income and Expenditure Survey^[2] released by the Philippine Statistics Authority. The survey covered 51,000 samples.

Poverty incidence and subsistence[edit]

Given the poverty thresholds mentioned above, poverty and subsistence incidences are computed by determining the proportion of the population and the families whose per capita income are below the poverty and food thresholds. Poverty incidence is the proportion of the population with per capita income less than the per capita poverty threshold.^[8]Subsistence incidence, on the other hand, is the proportion of the population with per capita income less than the per capita food threshold.^[8] Poverty and subsistence incidences for 2013 significantly decreased, indicating an improvement in the proportion of the population that are below the poverty line.

Poverty and subsistence incidence based on the Family Income and Expenditure Survey (FIES) ^[7] and the Annual Poverty Indicator Survey (APIS).^[6]

2014 data released by Philippine Statistics Authority, however, estimated a 25.8% poverty incidence for the first semester (January to June 2014). This was an increase in poverty level from 2013. Subsistence incidence for the first semester of 2014, on the other hand, showed an improvement, with a 10.5% estimate.^[2]

Depth of poverty[edit]

Income gap[edit]

Income gap measures the average income required by the poor in order to get out of poverty (expressed relative to the poverty threshold).^[8] Income gap is a measure of depth of poverty. In 2013, on average, families below the poverty line needed 27.4% the poverty threshold, or an additional monthly income of Php 2,638, to get out of poverty.^[2] This was a slight decrease from 2012's income gap which requires an income of Php 2740 in order to overtake the poverty line

I

ncome gap in the Philippines for 2006, 2009, 2012, and 2013 based
on the results from the Annual Poverty Indicator Survey

Poverty gap[edit]

Poverty gap is the total income shortfall (expressed relative to the poverty line) of families with income below the poverty threshold, divided by the total number of families. It is also a measure of depth of poverty. The poverty gap for the first semester of 2014 was 5.4%, a 0.2 unit increase from 2013, which was 5.2%.^[2]

Poverty gap in the Philippines for 2006, 2009, 2012, and 2013,
based on the Annual Poverty Indicator Survey

According to the Asian Development Bank, in 2016 it was estimated that 60% of the Philippine population aged 15 years and above were employed.^[9]^{[not in citation given]}

GINI index[edit]

Added ((main article|Gini coefficient}} The GINI index, also known as the GINI ratio or GINI coefficient, measures the degree of inequality in the distribution of family income in a country.^[10] A GINI index of 0 represents perfect equality, while an index of 100 implies perfect inequality. For the Philippines, the GINI index is measured every three years during the Family Income and Expenditure Survey. In 2009, the GINI index was 46.41. It decreased 0.36 units to 46.05 in 2012. These indices were both higher than the average of 38.8.

Other poverty-related statistics[edit]

Rapid population growth[edit]

In 1985, the absolute number of people living in poverty was 26.5 million. This increased to 30.4 million in 2000 and from 2006 to 2009, increased by almost 970,000 Filipinos from 22.2 million to 23.1 million.^[4]

As the Philippines has financially limited resources and a high poverty rate, the rapid increase in population has become a problem because there are insufficient resources to support the population, which leaves fewer resources to improve the economy. From 2003 to 2006, even though the Philippines experienced above-average economic growth, the poverty incidence increased as a result of its population growth rate.^[11]

Unemployment[edit]

Poverty reduction has not kept up with GDP growth rates, largely due to the high unemployment rate, high inflation rate and wide income inequality. The official rate of unemployment for 2012 in the Philippines was 6.5 percent.^[12]

Labor Force Survey for 2014 and 2015

Education and Literacy[edit]

There is a great contrast between the achievement of tertiary education by family heads belonging to the lowest 30% and the highest 70%. From the 3 to 24-year olds who attended school during the year 2010 to 2011, only 4% of those under the poverty line were in college, while 18% of the highest 70% were in college. From the data concerning 6 to 24-year olds from the lowest 30% who had not attended school during the year 2010 to 2011, the two highest reasons for not attending were "lack of personal interest" at 28.9% and "high cost of education" at 26.8%.^[6]

Families by Highest Grade Completed of the Family Head and by Income Stratum, Philippines 2011

Human Development Index[edit]

The Human Development Index, as defined by the United Nations, is a summary measure of average achievement in key dimensions of human development: a long and healthy life, being knowledgeable and having a decent standard of living. For the Philippines, the HDI increased by 16.5% between 1980 and 2013. The country ranked 117 out of 187 countries in 2013. The HDI in 2013 was 0.660, which implied that the Philippines was under the medium human development group (which needs an HDI of 0.614). The nation's HDI was higher than the average for countries in the medium human development group, but lower than the average of the countries in East Asia and Pacific (0.703).

The Inequality Adjusted Human Development Index (IHDI) discounts each dimension's (health, education and income) average value according to its level of inequality. Inequality pulls down HDI by 18.1% in the Philippines, which makes the IHDI equal to 0.540. As in the HDI, the country's IHDI is higher than the average of medium human development group, which is 0.457, a 25.6% loss due to inequality. The IHDI value of the average in the countries of East Asia and Pacific was 0.564, which was still higher than the Philippines'.^[3]

Houses and lots[edit]

It can be seen that 50.2% of families from the lowest 30% have floor areas below 30 square meters. From the data concerning the type of construction material of the roof of the building families occupy, 87.4% of the highest 70% had strong materials compared with the 62.8% of the lowest 30% and 6.3% of the highest 70% had light materials compared with the 27.3% of the lowest 30%.

From the data concerning the type of construction material of the outer walls of the building families occupy, 78.3% of the highest 70% had strong materials compared with the 46.4% of the lowest 30% and 8.7% of the highest 70% had light materials compared with the 32.4% of the lowest 30%. From the data concerning the type of toilet facility families use, it was noticeable that 12.9% of the lowest 30% had no toilet, field, or bush.^[6]

Hunger[edit]

The gap between the percentage of families below the poverty line and those above the poverty line is noticeable. 14.5% of families belonging to the lowest 30% had experienced hunger in the three months preceding the survey, while only 2.8% of families belonging to the highest 70% had experienced hunger in the three months preceding the survey.^[7]

Electricity and access to resources[edit]

Only 70.2% of families belonging to the lowest 30% have electricity in their homes, compared with the 94.5% of the families belonging to the highest 70%. It is also noticeable that 27.2% of families belonging to the lowest 30% have either a public tap, an unprotected well, or an undeveloped spring for their main source of water supply.^[6]

Poverty demographics[edit]

National level[edit]

In 2012, a family of five would need an average of P5,513 per month in order to meet their basic food needs, and a further P2,377 in order to meet their nonfood needs. This represents an average inflation of 4.1% per year from 2009 to 2012.^[8]

Statistically, the percentage of Filipinos that couldn't meet the basic food needs stood at 7.5%. The number of poor families remained steady at 1.61 Million. One in five families were estimated to be poor in 2012, or 4.2 million.

Aside from previous indicators, other measures such as the income gap and poverty gap also exist in order to have enough data to properly design programs that will help poverty. The income gap measures the amount of income required by the poor in order to get out of poverty in relation to the poverty threshold. In 2012, it was estimated that the income gap was at 26.2%, which meant that, on average, a family of five would need an additional P2,067 in order to move out of poverty in 2012.

A total of P124 billion would be needed by the national government as cash transfers to the poor families in order to totally eradicate poverty in the country.

As of 2016, there were a total of 101.57 million Filipinos. 25.2% of the population lived below the national poverty line.^[9]

Regional level[edit]

At the regional level, NCR, CALABARZON and Central Luzon had the lowest poverty incidence in the country during 2006, 2009, and 2012. ARMM remained the poorest region with the highest poverty incidence, which ranged from 40 to 49% in 2006, 2009, and 2012.

Provincial level[edit]

At the provincial level, the group of provinces with the least poverty incidence are the four districts of NCR, Bataan, Benguet, Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna, Pampanga, Rizal, and Ilocos Norte. The group with the highest poverty are Eastern Samar, Lanao del Sur, Maguindanao, Masbate, Northern Samar, Sarangani, Zamboanga del Norte, Camiguin, Lanao del Norte, North Cotabato, and Western Samar.

Summary[edit]

In general, one out of every five families were poor in 2012. The ratio of poor families remained the same from 2006, but due to population increase, the number rose from 3.8 million in 2006 to 4.2 million in 2012. Furthermore, one out of 10 families couldn't meet their basic food needs. Nevertheless, the estimated number of poor families remained steady at around 1.6 million.

The map above shows the poverty incidence in the country. This is the number of households living below the poverty threshold. It can be seen that the provinces of Apayao, Eastern Samar, Lanao del Sur, and Maguindanao have incidences higher than 60%. In Mindanao, apart from Lanao del Sur and Maguindanao, the rest of the region's provinces have indices that are 60% or lower. In Visayas, the western part contains most of the provinces with lower than 30% incidence, while the eastern part mostly has lower than 60% incidence. Luzon has the least number of provinces with higher than 30% incidence. This may be attributed to their relative ease of trade with the capital.