MANILA, Dec. 22 (Xinhua) -- The poverty incidence among the Philippine population declined to 22.4 percent during the first half of 2023 from 23.7 percent in the same period in 2021, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said on Friday.
PSA head Dennis Mapa said there were 25.24 million Filipinos whose per capita income is insufficient to meet their basic food and non-food needs from January to June 2023.
"On the average, a family of five members will need at least 13,797 pesos (roughly 249 U.S. dollars) per month to meet their minimum basic food and non-food needs in the first semester of 2023," Mapa told a news conference.
On the other hand, Mapa said the subsistence incidence among Filipinos, or the proportion of Filipinos whose income is not enough to buy even the basic food needs, was registered at 8.7 percent or about 9.79 million.
On average, he added the monthly food threshold for a family of five in the first semester was estimated at 9,550 pesos (172 dollars).
Mapa said poverty decreased in 15 of the country's 17 regions from 2021 to 2023.
"The decision to fully open the economy and lift all COVID-19 restrictions in the country starting in 2022 has allowed us to recover from the unprecedented, combined impact of the pandemic and the government's policy responses to the crisis," National Economic and Development Authority Secretary Arsenio Balisacan said at the same press conference.
Notably, in the first three quarters of 2023, Balisacan said the Philippines "demonstrated remarkable resilience amid all challenges," with the gross domestic product growth rate averaging at 5.5 percent. Moreover, the unemployment rate dropped to 4.2 percent in October this year from 4.5 percent in October 2022.
According to Balisacan, the high inflation in the first semester of 2023 partially offset the positive effect of income growth on poverty. However, the efforts to tame inflation and manage its effects have yielded significant results. From a high of 8.7 percent in January, inflation dropped to a 20-month low of 4.1 percent in November.
"We are making progress in our poverty reduction," he said, expressing optimism that the Philippines can attain a single-digit poverty rate at the end of President Ferdinand Romualdez Marcos' term in 2028. ■
