Poverty incidence among families in the Negros Island Region (NIR) dropped to 14.3 percent in 2025 from 22.6 percent in 2023, according to the latest data released by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).
The significant decrease was revealed during the PSA-NIR Regional Data Dissemination Forum held Monday, Nov. 9, in Dumaguete City, where the agency presented the 2025 Full-Year Official Poverty Statistics and highlights of the Family Income and Expenditure Survey (FIES).
Similarly, poverty incidence among the population decreased from 28.9 percent in 2023 to 20.4 percent in 2025.
The PSA releases official poverty incidence statistics every two years.
In terms of the magnitude of poor families, the NIR recorded 208,740 poor families in 2021, which increased to 266,840 in 2023 before decreasing to 178,470 in 2025.
In an interview following the presentation, PSA-NIR Officer-in-Charge and Interim Regional Director John Campomanes attributed the improvement partly to increased household income resulting from wage adjustments and government financial assistance.
“If we look at 2025, there were salary increases as approved by the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board and also the ayuda or government financial assistance is part of the income from other sources domestically,” Campomanes said.
He also noted that 2025 was an election year, during which economic activities were stimulated by the distribution of livelihood grants and other forms of financial assistance.
On the expenditure side, Campomanes acknowledged that household spending also increased, but at a slower pace, partly due to the relatively low inflation rate recorded in the region in 2025.
Meanwhile, Department of Economy, Planning and Development (DepDev) – NIR supervising economic development specialist Emmanuel Purzuelo welcomed the region’s “very significant” performance in reducing poverty.
He said DepDev, as the region’s socioeconomic planning agency, continues to identify and study programs and projects that could help alleviate poverty and improve the economic conditions of families.
Purzuelo emphasized the need to strengthen basic infrastructure and develop industries to stimulate economic growth and generate more employment opportunities in the region.
He pointed out that poverty incidence is primarily measured based on household income, stressing that families need sustainable sources of income to rise above poverty.
“From the programs that give employment and income generation, we can address our problem on poverty,” Purzuelo said.*PNA
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