Poverty in the Philippines: Urban and Rural Poverty

Jan 25, 2012

Poverty in the Philippines: Urban and Rural Poverty

(Note: This piece is a segment from a larger article “Poverty in the Philippines: A Profile”, showcased in Focus-Philippines’ upcoming Poverty Policy Review)

Urban vs. Rural Poverty Incidence (%)

Area	1985	1988	1991	1994	1997	2000	2006	2008
Philippines	44.2	40.2	39.9	35.5	31.8	33.7	32.9	–
Urban	33.6	30.1	31.1	24.0	17.9	19.9	19.1	19.7*
Rural	50.7	46.3	48.6	47.0	44.4	46.9	45.8	42.5*

Source: National Statistics Office— FIES (2006), An Assessment of the Poverty Situation in the Philippines— Reyes (2010), The Poverty Fight: Has It Made a Difference?— Reyes (2003)

*From the Annual Poverty Indicators Survey (2008), not the FIES (2006)

Poverty in the Philippines is frequently said in official analyses to be a predominantly rural phenomenon.  The available data corroborates this avowed tendency, the possible underreporting of urban poverty notwithstanding. In 1985, urban poverty is seen to afflict 33.6% of the urban population, even while rural poverty characterizes 50.7% of Filipinos in the countryside. Yet by 2008, both figures have declined to 19.7% (urban) and 42.5% (rural). One important fact that must be noted is that the rate of poverty reduction in the urban sphere far outstrips that of the rural.

Rural poverty rates considerably oscillate throughout the 80’s and 90’s. Nearly every other year is followed by movements in rural poverty towards the opposite direction. This varies completely from the urban poverty experience, where a marked, consistent decrease is visible from 1985 to 2006, only rebounding by 2.0% in 2000. Among these years, the greatest deduction to the urban poverty level takes place between 1994 (24.0%) and 1997 (17.9%)— a vivid 6.1% reduction.