TACLOBAN CITY – One in every five families in Eastern Visayas is poor with a monthly income that is insufficient to buy their basic food and non-food needs, the Philippine Statistics Authority in Region VIII (PSA VIII) reported on Monday.

PSA VIII said 241,000 families remained poor in 2023, lowering the poverty incidence to 20.3% from 22.2% in 2021.

This regional poverty incidence is almost twice above the national average of 10.9 percent, indicating that Eastern Visayas is home to a higher concentration of poor families than elsewhere in the Philippines.

The statistical arm of the government set the average poverty threshold in the region at P13,492, which is the estimated minimum monthly income for a family of five to meet their basic food and non-food needs.

Among the six provinces and one high-urbanized city in Eastern Visayas, Tacloban City has the highest poverty threshold at P14,057 indicating a higher cost of living, while Biliran has the lowest at P11,989.

The report said that of the six provinces and one HUC in the region, Northern Samar and Leyte recorded a higher poverty incidence in 2023 than compared to 2021 – 29.2% in 2023 from 25.9% in 2021 for Northern Samar and slight increase to 29.3% from 29.2% over the same period for Leyte.

Meanwhile, significant improvements in poverty situation among families between 2021 and 2023 were noted in Biliran and Southern Leyte. Poverty incidence among families in Biliran dropped to 8.5% in 2023 from 19.9% in 2021 while Southern Leyte registered 7.1% poverty incidence among families in 2023, lower than the 16.0% in 2021.

Of the six provinces in the region, only Southern Leyte and Biliran recorded a poverty incidence among families lower than the national average of 10.9 percent.

On the other hand, PSA VIII also noted that 27 out of 100 individuals in Eastern Visayas belong to the poor population whose per capita income was not sufficient to buy their minimum basic food and non-food needs.

These individuals are located in Eastern Samar (33.4%%), Samar (32.3%) and Leyte excluding Tacloban (29.3%). PSA VIII set the average poverty threshold for individuals at P32,381 per annum.