A homeless family takes shelter from heavy rains inside their makeshift home in Quezon City on Thursday. Jonathan Cellona, ABS-CBN News
MANILA — The number of Filipinos classified as poor fell in 2025, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said Friday.
According to the PSA, the poverty incidence among families was 6.4 percent, or equivalent to 1.9 million poor families in 2025, down from 2.99 million families in 2023, based on the PSA's criteria.
"This marks the first time that the country’s poverty incidence among families has fallen to a single-digit level," the PSA said.
From 17.54 million individuals in 2023 classified as poor, the number went down to 11.08 million in 2025. This brings the poverty incidence for individuals to 9.7 percent in 2025 from 15.5 percent in 2023, the agency said.
To be considered poor, an individual's income must be below the country’s poverty threshold, which means it is not sufficient to buy the minimum basic food and basic non-food needs.
For 2023, the average poverty threshold was P13,873 per month for a family of 5. In 2025, that number climbed to P14,634. This means families above this amount are not considered poor. The amount is the budget for both food and non-food items.
The drop in the number of poor Filipinos came as incomes rose faster than prices, especially food costs, the agency said.
"The annual per capita poverty threshold, which is mainly affected by changes in the prices of food items included in the food bundle, increased by 5.5 percent, while the mean annual per capita income grew at a faster rate of 22.0 percent over the same period," the PSA noted.
The PSA noted that from 2023 to 2025 the median per capita income rose from P85,291 to P104,072.
The Department of Economy, Planning and Development (DEPDev) hailed the results of the PSA study.
“For the first time, fewer than one in ten Filipinos is living below the poverty line,” DEPDev Secretary Arsenio Balisacan said.
The government has vowed to bring down the poverty level to single-digit levels before President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s term ends.
Balisacan said targeted assistance and government programs—like the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps), KADIWA, Walang Gutom Program, and Tulong Panghanapbuhay sa Ating Disadvantaged/Displaced Workers (TUPAD)—have helped narrow income gaps over the years.
“Reaching this milestone ahead of schedule demonstrates that expanding economic opportunities, complemented by effective social protection, can make a meaningful difference in people’s lives," Balisacan said.
“As we enter the final years of the administration, our priority is to ensure that families who have moved out of poverty do not fall back into it,” the country's chief development economist said.
He noted, however, that the pace of poverty reduction may moderate amid the more challenging economic environment in 2026.
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