TWO in 10 Filipinos were poor in the first half of 2023, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said Friday, Dec. 22.
The PSA said Philippine poverty incidence reached 22.4 percent from January to June. This is equivalent to 25.24 million Filipinos, noted the state statistics bureau.
This is lower than the 23.7 percent recorded in the same period in 2021, the PSA noted.
In the first six months of 2023, a family of five needed at least P13,797 monthly to meet their basic needs.
Meanwhile, subsistence incidence – or the number of Filipinos who can’t buy their basic food needs – reached 8.7 percent. This is equivalent to 9.79 million persons.
Subsistence incidence was at 9.9 percent in the first half of 2021.
A Sept. 28 to Oct. 1 Social Weather Stations poll found that 48 percent of Filipino families rated themselves as mahirap or poor.
The Marcos administration eyes bringing down the poverty incidence in the country to 8.8 to 9 percent by 2028, the National Anti-Poverty Commission said in June. (ABS-CBN News)
