NEDA: 1.4 million less poor Filipinos in 2015 than in 2009

MANILA, Philippines — There are about 1.4 million less poor Filipinos in 2015 than in 2009, according to the 2015 Full Year Poverty Statistics released  by the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) on Thursday.

The NEDA said that the country's poverty incidence for the whole of 2015 declined significantly from 25.2 percent in 2012 to 21.6 million in 2015.

"This has resulted from generally low and stable inflation, improved incomes, and higher employment rates in the period," the NEDA reported.

Data from the Philippines Statistics Authority (PSA) showed that around one out of five families were poor in 2015.

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In 2015, a family of five needed around P6,329 per month to meet their minimum basic food needs, the PSA said.

To meet their minimum basic food and nonfood needs, a family of five needed around P9,064 monthly in 2015.

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The PSA also reported that 57 out of 1,000 or an estimated 1.3 million families did not have sufficient income to meet their basic food needs.

Subsistence incidence covers 81 of 1,000 Filipinos in 2015, the report said. Subsistence incidence refers to the proportion of Filipinos in extreme poverty.

"Decrease in poverty incidence was observed in all regions and eased disparities across regions," the NEDA said.

The largest drop incidence was observed in Regions 11 (Davao) and 12 (Soccsksargen) from 2012 to 2015.

The National Capital Region recorded the highest poverty threshold in 2015 while the lowest was from Region 4-B (Mimaropa).

"If a family lives in NCR, then they will need higher income in NCR compared to other regions," the PSA said.

Poverty incidence refers to the number of households with an income below the poverty threshold. Poverty threshold, on the other hand, refers to the minimum income required to afford basic food and nonfood needs.

The NEDA stressed that the government needs to pay more attention to lagging regions, especially those in Mindanao.

"Underemployment is still steep among regions with high poverty incidence, signaling low earning capacity of the poor," the NEDA said.

The NEDA's goal is to reduce poverty to 13 or 15 percent by 2022. This goal will be driven by rural and regional development, and addressing capacity constraints in other sectors.

"Improved poverty reduction indicates that goal to eradicate poverty in Philippines is very possible and highly achievable," NEDA Director Reynaldo Cancio said.