Guimaras among least poor provinces in PHL

The result of the 2018 full year poverty estimates released by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) indicated that Guimaras is now among the least poor provinces of the country.

Guimaras ranked 13th among 17 provinces in the least poor cluster (cluster 5) with a 6.6 percent poverty incidence among familie.

Three provinces were clustered as poorest (cluster 1): Basilan, Lanao del Sur & Sulu, the PSA data showed.

The proportion of families who are poor was 6.6 percent, which means that about 2,890 families have incomes below the poverty threshold in 2018.

Moreover, about 9.3 percent of the Guimaras population earned below the poverty threshold in the full year of 2018, or about 16,800 individuals with incomes below the poverty line.

On the other hand, the proportion of families who are food poor was at 0.8 percent, or about 300 families whose incomes fall below the food threshold.

The proportion of population who are food poor was at 0.9 percent, translating to about 1,700 individuals whose incomes fall below the food threshold in the full year 2018.

Poverty Indicators of Guimaras Province: 2015 & 2018

According to Provincial Statistics Officer (PSO) Nelida B. Losare, the food threshold is the minimum income required to meet the basic food needs and satisfy the nutritional requirements set by the Food and Nutrition Research Institute (FNRI) to ensure that one remains economically and socially productive.

Poverty threshold is the minimum income required to meet the basic food and non-food needs such as clothing, fuel, light and water, housing, rental of occupied dwelling units, transportation and communication, health and education expenses, nondurable furnishing, household operations and personal care and effects.

Meanwhile, Poverty incidence among families is defined as the proportion of families whose income is below the poverty line to the total number of families while, poverty incidence among population refers to as the proportion of the population living below the poverty line to the total population.