THE number of impoverished Filipinos has decreased to 17.54 million, or 15.5 percent of the population, according to a report released Wednesday, July 24, 2024, by the Philippine Statistics Authority. This drop puts the government on course to achieve its ambitious goal of single-digit poverty by 2028.
The National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) noted that it surpasses the government’s target of 16.0 to 16.4 percent for 2023 as set in the Philippine Development Plan 2023-2028. This achievement marks a substantial step towards fulfilling President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s 2022 pledge to reduce poverty to as low as nine percent by the end of his term.
The 2023 Full Year Official Poverty Statistics reveal a notable improvement from the 18.1 percent poverty rate recorded in 2021. This translates to 2.45 million Filipinos lifted out of poverty over the two-year period.
Poverty incidence among families also saw a significant decrease, dropping from 13.2 percent in 2021 to 10.9 percent in 2023. This represents a reduction in the number of impoverished families from 3.5 million to 3.0 million.
Neda Secretary Arsenio Balisacan expressed optimism about the findings. “These encouraging figures underscore our unwavering commitment to implement effective policies and initiatives that uplift the lives of our countrymen,” he stated. “As we welcome news of our progress, we remain steadfast in our efforts to ensure that our economic gains are truly felt by all Filipinos, rich and poor alike.”
Despite the positive trends, Balisacan emphasized that food security remains a top government priority. The number of families experiencing food insecurity dropped by 300,000, from 1.04 million in 2021 to 740,000 in 2023. Similarly, the population’s share of those who are food-poor decreased from 6.55 million in 2021 to 4.84 million in 2023, a reduction of 1.71 million people.
“We know what we have to do to ensure that food is available, accessible, affordable and nutritious,” Balisacan stated. “We must boost agricultural productivity, invest massively to improve our infrastructure and markets, effectively manage food prices through supply-and-demand-side interventions and strengthen targeted interventions to enhance health outcomes.”
The report also highlighted that between 2021 and 2023, the nation’s average per capita income grew by 17.9 percent, outpacing the 15.3 percent rise in the annual per capita poverty threshold. Significant gains were observed in the mean per capita earnings of the lowest income groups, with increases of 25.3 percent, 22.9 percent and 22.2 percent for the first, second, and third decile groups, respectively.
According to Arvin Dimalanta, advocacy officer of the Philippine Network of Food Security Programs, a March 2024 survey by the Social Weather Stations revealed that 14.2 percent of Filipinos experienced “involuntary hunger,” defined as experiencing hunger without access to food at least once in the past three months.
This represents a significant increase from the 11.6 percent hunger rate when Marcos assumed office in June 2022, he said.
Additionally, he said the proportion of families identifying as poor rose from 43 percent at the beginning of Marcos’ term to 46 percent in the March SWS survey, and alarmingly spiked to 58 percent by June. / CDF