Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, December 22) — The country’s poverty rate fell to 22.4% in the first half of 2023, translating to 25.24 million Filipinos, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported on Friday.
PSA said this is a decrease from the 23.7% recorded in the same period in 2021.Meanwhile, poverty incidence among families dropped to 16.4% from 18.0% in the same period in 2021. The current rate is equivalent to 4.51 million poor families.According to PSA, poverty incidence lowered in 15 of 17 regions from 2021 to 2023. Significant decline was logged in the National Capital Region, Cordillera Administrative Region, Cagayan Valley, Central Luzon, SOCCSKSARGEN, and Caraga.For food poverty, those whose income is “not enough to buy even the basic food needs” was registered at 8.7% of the population, or about 9.79 million Filipinos, in the first semester of 2023.“A family of five members will need at least ₱13,797 per month to meet their minimum basic food and non-food needs in the first semester of 2023,” the PSA said in a statement.PSA said the monthly food threshold for a family of five was estimated at ₱9,550.In a presser, NEDA Secretary Arsenio Balisacan admitted that the standard of poverty is low.“That is what we hope for. That everyone will have means to enjoy the season. These numbers show us that this standard of poverty is low,” he said.
“To say that everybody can have noche buena is an exaggeration because there are many poor around us who are poor and they deserve attention,” he added.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. aims to lower the poverty rate to 9% before his term ends in 2028.
