17.5 million Filipinos can’t afford basic needs — PSA

MANILA, Philippines — Around 17.54 million individuals are unable to afford basic commodities, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said on Monday. 

In its Family Income and Expenditure Survey (FIES), the PSA found that poverty incidence among individuals decreased from 18.1% (19.99 million Filipinos) in 2021 to 15.5% (17.54 million Filipinos) in 2023.

“Poverty incidence is the proportion of Filipino families with incomes that are not sufficient to buy their minimum basic food and non-food needs as estimated by the poverty threshold. At individual level, 15.5%Filipinos or about 17.54 million Filipinos were poor in 2023,” the PSA said. 

The agency said that this translates to around 3 million families (10.9%) who are classified as poor. 

It identified 740,000 families (2.7%) as “food poor” in 2023, meaning their incomes do not meet basic food needs. This marks an improvement from 2021, when 1.04 million families (3.9%) were categorized as food poor.

“Based on these preliminary poverty statistics, the poverty situation in the country has returned to its pre-pandemic level,” the PSA said. 

The FIES revealed that respondents’ incomes came from various sources, including wages, entrepreneurial activities, net share, and cash receipts from abroad.

A recent survey by Social Weather Stations (SWS) reported that 16 million Filipino families considered themselves poor, a record high during President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s term.

“The estimated number of Self-Rated Poor families was 16.0 million in June 2024, up from 12.9 million in March 2024,” SWS reported.