MANILA, Philippines – The Philippines has seen a decline in family poverty rates, dropping to 10.9% in 2023, an improvement from the 13.2% recorded in pandemic-hit 2021.

However, in terms of magnitude, the 2023 figure translates to about 3 million poor families, which merely mirrors the pre-pandemic level of 3 million poor families in 2018. This suggests that there was no decrease in the actual number of families classified as poor in the six years between 2018 to 2023.

On an individual level, the poverty rate also showed improvement, decreasing from 18.1% in 2021 to 15.5% in 2023. This reduction means that approximately 17.54 million Filipinos fell below the poverty threshold in 2023, down from nearly 20 million in 2021. Yet, this number remains close to the 17.67 million individuals classified as poor in 2018.

During the pandemic year of 2021, the poverty incidence rose to as high as 23.7%, the equivalent of 26.1 million Filipinos.

The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) defines the poverty rate, or poverty incidence, as the “proportion of Filipino families with incomes that are insufficient to buy their minimum basic food and non-food needs as estimated by the poverty threshold.”

Food poverty, which refers to incomes insufficient to meet basic food needs, also saw a decline.

In 2023, 2.7% of Filipino families were classified as food poor, an improvement from 3.9% in 2021 and 3.4% in 2018. Similarly, 4.3% of individuals were considered food poor in 2023, down from 5.9% in 2021 and 5.2% in 2018.

“Based on these preliminary poverty statistics, the poverty situation in the country has returned to its pre-pandemic level,” the PSA said in a press release discussing the findings of its Family Income and Expenditure Survey on Monday, July 22.

The decline in poverty rates can be attributed to the increase in mean per capita income, which grew at a faster pace than the annual per capita poverty threshold. (READ: Metro Manila women’s top pre-SONA concerns: Poverty, job creation – survey)

“The poverty threshold, which is mainly affected by changes in the prices of food items in the food bundle, increased by 15.3% in 2023.  On the other hand, the mean per capita income, particularly of the second decile, or families near the poverty threshold, increased by 22.9%, which is higher than the increase in the poverty threshold. These resulted to the decreases in the poverty incidences among families at 2.3 percentage points and among population at 2.6 percentage points in 2023,” the PSA said. – Rappler.com