CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY (PIA)–Poverty incidence among families in region 10 in the first semester of 2021 was estimated at 26.2%, higher than the national poverty threshold of 18%, based on the latest release of Poverty Statistics in northern Mindanao.
In a Poverty Statistics forum held by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA)-10, about 26 out of 100 families in the region had income below the poverty threshold, which means that their income is not sufficient to buy their basic food and nonfood needs.
PSA-10 OIC-Regional Director Janith C. Aves said poverty threshold is the minimum income required for a family or individual to meet the basic food and nonfood requirements, also known as poverty line.
The number of poor Filipino families in the region in the 1st semester of 2021, was estimated at around 312,000 meanwhile, in 2018, it was estimated at 288,000. The number of poor families nationwide in 2021 was 4.74 million families. This means that 6.6% of the total poor families in the country in the 1st semester of 2021, were in Region 10.
Poverty incidence among the population in Region 10, in the first semester of 2021, was estimated at 33.8%, which means that around 34 out of 100 individuals in the region belong to the poor families. This is higher than the national average at 23.7%.
About 1.72 million individuals in the region had income below the poverty threshold in the first semester of 2021. At the national level, 26.14 million individuals were poor. About 6.6% of the poor individuals were in Region 10.
For the food threshold, a family of five in Region 10 needed at least P8,305 in the first semester in 2021. This is the average to meet their family’s food needs. In 2021, an increase of 16.4% from the 2018 food threshold of P7,135.
Subsistence incidence or food poor in the region is at 10.9%, higher than the national at 7.1% and higher from the region’s food poor in 2018 at 9.4%.
The 10.9% substance incidence translates to about 130,000 families in region 10 whose income fall below the food threshold. While in 2018 it was at 106,000. At the national, food poor families is 1.87 million. Around 6.9% of the food poor families in the country were in Region 10.
Subsistence incidence among population or individuals in region 10 is at 15%, which means 15 out of 100 individuals were food poor in the first semester in 2021. A total of 762,000 individuals in the region were food poor in the first semester of 2021.
Aves also shared that among the provinces in the region, the Province of Lanao del Norte posted the highest poverty incidence among families at 39.1%. This increased significantly from 25.5% in 2018. Meanwhile, the City of Cagayan de Oro posted the lowest poverty incidence among families at 11.6%.
The reference period of the 2021 Family Income and Expenditure Survey (FIES) was January to June of 2021, and was conducted for a period of 20 days last July 8 to 31, 2021.
The domain of the FIES is the national, regional, provincial and highly urbanized city.
Around 10,211 families in Region 10 were interviewed for the first visit of 2021 FIES wherein 1,542 families in Bukidnon, 768 in Camiguin, 1,645 in Lanao del Norte, 1,573 in Iligan, 1,550 in Misamis Occidental and 1,565 families in Misamis Oriental and 1,568 in Cagayan de Oro City. (JMOR/PIA-10)
