Guimaras amongst country’s least poor provinces

Guimaras province remains in 16th place among the 24 least poor provinces of the country, based on the result of the 2021 full year poverty estimates released by the Philippine Statistics Authority.

In terms of poverty incidence among families, Guimaras recorded a rate of 7.3 percent, translating to around 3,440 families with income below the poverty threshold in the full year of 2021.

The figure is a bit higher than the 6.8 percent in 2018.

Provincial Statistics Officer Nelida B. Losare explained that about 10 percent of Guimaras’ population, or roughly 18,740 individuals, have income below the poverty line for the same period.

Losare added that 0.8 percent of families in Guimaras were classified as food poor, meaning roughly 380 families had incomes that did not meet the food threshold in 2021, the same as in 2018.

“Around 1.2 percent of the population is food poor, translating to 2,270 individuals with incomes below the food threshold during 2021. The figure is higher than the 1,690 food-poor population in 2018, or 580 individuals added to the 2018 level,” Losare said

Food threshold is the minimum income required to meet basic food needs, satisfying 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, non-durable furnishing, household operations, and personal care and effects,” Losare said

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 the population is the proportion of the population living below the poverty line to the total population.