Based on the preliminary results of 2023 Family Income and Expenditure Survey (FIES) Visit 1, the poverty incidence among population or the proportion of Aklanons whose per capita income was insufficient to buy their basic food and non-food needs was estimated at 8.6 percent or 53.18 thousand poor Aklanons in the first semester of 2023.

Meanwhile, poverty incidence among families was recorded at 6.2 percent or 10.02 thousand poor Aklanon families.

Moreover, the proportion of Aklanons whose per capita income cannot suffice to buy even their basic food needs or the subsistence incidence pegged at 1.1 percent among population or 6.89 thousand food poor Aklanons and 0.9 percent among families or 1.51 thousand food poor Aklanon families.

Both poverty and subsistence incidences among population dropped significantly from 24.9 percent and 9.2 percent recorded in the first semester of 2021, respectively.

On the average, a family of five members in Aklan will need at least PhP8,541 per month to meet their basic food needs and at least PhP12,226 per month to meet their basic food and non-food needs during the reference period, satisfying the nutritional requirements based on the Recommended Energy and Nutrient Intake (RENI).

Apparently, Aklan had the lowest poverty and subsistence incidence levels among the six provinces and two highly-urbanized cities of Western Visayas in the first half of 2023, and now categorized as a least poor province.

ANTONET B. CATUBUAN
Chief Statistical Specialist