BAGUIO CITY — Poverty incidence in the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) declined in 2023, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported in its Official Poverty Statistics of the Philippines 2023.

PSA-CAR Regional Director Villafe P. Alibuyog reported here that poverty incidence among families in the region improved to 4.4% in 2023 from 6.9% in 2021.

“This translates to 20,440 poor families in 2023, down from 30,740 poor families recorded in 2021,” Ms. Alibuyog explained during their dissemination forum this Wednesday.

The poverty incidence among population was also down to 7% in 2023 from 9.9% in 2021.

This means that the ‘income poor individuals’ in Cordillera was estimated at 129,000 in 2023 from 180,710 individuals in 2021, the PSA-CAR official added.

Ms. Alibuyog said the average poverty threshold, or the amount that represents the minimum income required by a family of five members to meet their basic food and non-food needs, increased to 13,239 pesos in 2023 from 11,793 pesos in 2021; while the average food threshold per family per month, or the minimum amount required by a family with five members to meet their basic food needs, here is P9,274.

The subsistence incidence which is the proportion of families with income less than the food threshold, decreased to 0.7% in 2023 from 1.4% in 2021. “This means that an estimate of 3,330 families in the Cordillera are considered food poor in 2023 from 6,120 families in 2021,” Mr. Alibuyog said.

The subsistence incidence among population is also down to 1.3% in 2023 from 2.2%  in 2021. This equates to 23,790 individuals who are food poor in 2023, down from 39,660 food poor individuals in 2021.

Ms. Alibuyog said that the increase in income of the families near the poverty threshold is faster compared to the rise of prices of the basic food and nonfood needs, which resulted in the reduction of poverty incidence among families in the Cordillera. — Artemio A. Dumlao