Pandemic lockdowns sank 19.99 million Filipinos into poverty in 2021, highlighting how COVID-19 dragged on efforts to uplift the lives of the poor, official data released Monday showed.
Poverty incidence jumped to 18.1% last year from 17.7% in 2020. This refers to the proportion of poor individuals whose income is not enough to meet their basic food and non-food needs.
The poverty threshold, or the monthly requirement of a family of five for basic needs, rose to P12,030 from P10,756.
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Subsistence incidence is at 3.9% or equivalent to some 1.04 million families. This refers to those living below the food poverty line, meaning their income is not enough to meet even their basic food needs.
For basic food requirements alone, the PSA estimated that a family of five needs at least P8,379 a month.
In 2021, the PSA said around 3.5 million families or 13.2% were considered poor.
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