For those in the bottom 30 percent of the population, mean per capita income increased by 31.87 percent, according to NEDA. #povertyincidence2018

The government is on target in bringing down poverty incidence to 14 percent by 2022. (JOH)

The poverty incidence or proportion of poor Filipinos whose per capita income is not sufficient to meet their basic food and non-food needs was estimated at 16.6 percent in 2018, down from 23.3 percent in 2015, the Philippine Statistics Authority’s (PSA) said on Friday.

The decline, however, still translates to 17.6 million Filipinos who lived below the poverty threshold estimated at P10,727 on average for a family of five per month in 2018, according to PSA.

Similarly, the proportion of Filipinos with insufficient income to support basic needs or subsistence incidence declined to 5.2 percent from 9.1 percent in 2018, added the PSA.

“We are pleased that the official poverty statistics for the full-year of 2018 reported by the (PSA) show significant progress, not just in terms of increasing overall income but also reducing inequality as well,” National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) Undersecretary and Officer-in-Charge Adoracion Navarro said.

“With a poverty reduction rate of 2.23 percentage points per annum, we are not only on track to meet our…target of bringing down poverty incidence to 14 percent by 2022, we are also likely to meet the Sustainable Development Goal target of eradicating extreme poverty…by 2030,” Navarro said.

Navarro attributed the lower poverty and subsistence incidence to the improvement of labor market conditions or increased salaries and wages of the poor.

“With a vibrant economy that continues to generate good jobs, the mean salaries and wages for the population went up by 22.8 percent to P156,114 in 2018, from P127,122 in 2015,” said Navarro.

“For those in the bottom 30 percent of the population, mean per capita income increased by 31.87 percent. This outpaced the 18 percent income growth experienced by the top 20 percent of households. This is a good sign that our programs targeting the poor are working well,” she added.

In all, the NEDA executive reiterated their commitment in implementing programs to lift the lives of every Filipino.

“Rest assured that we in the government will continue our efforts to improve the quality of life of our people, leaving no one behind. And as you already know, our goal goes beyond poverty reduction; it is about enabling every Filipino to enjoy a matatag, maginhawa, at panatag na buhay,” Navarro said.