NSCB - Press Release - Fishermen… poorest basic sector in 2006 m

Fishermen… poorest basic sector in 2006
(PR-200907-SSO-02, Posted 23 July 2009)

In the 2006 Official Poverty Statistics for the Basic Sectors, fishermen posted the highest poverty incidence among the eight basic sectors in the Philippines with 49.9%, followed by farmers and children with poverty incidences of 44% and 40.8%, respectively.

Poverty incidence for all sectors increased from 2003 to 2006. The largest increases were observed for fishermen, children and senior citizens with 6.3, 1.9 and 1.6 percentage points increases, respectively.

Table 1: Poverty Estimates of the Basic Sectors: 2000, 2003 and 2006

Sector	Poverty Estimates									Increase/Decrease
	2000			2003			2006			2000-2003		2003-2006
	Poverty Incidence	CV	Magnitude of Poor	Poverty Incidence	CV	Magnitude of Poor	Poverty Incidence	CV	Magnitude of Poor	Poverty Incidence	Magnitude of Poor	Poverty Incidence	Magnitude of Poor
Women	32.3	1.6	12,227,315	29	1.3	11,602,634	30.1	1.3	12,806,177	(3.3)	(624,680)	1.1	1,203,543
Youth	24.5	1.9	5,476,061	23.5	1.6	5,293,223	25.4	1.6	5,925,823	(1.0)	(182,838)	1.9	632,600
Children	42.5	1.7	14,093,102	38.8	1.2	13,469,849	40.8	1.1	14,405,899	(3.7)	(623,252)	2	936,050
Senior Citizens	28	3.0	1,277,139	18.4	2.7	969,906	20.3	2.5	1,297,159	(9.6)	(307,233)	1.9	327,253
Urban Poor	17.3	2.5	6,784,016	15.9	2.7	6,360,978	16.1	2.6	6,852,965	(1.4)	(423,038)	0.2	491,987
Migrant and Formal Sector Workers	18.7	2.2	2,622,324	18.4	2.0	2,886,445	19.5	1.9	3,229,424	(0.3)	264,122	1.1	342,979
Farmers	46.6	1.9	2,431,995	42.4	1.7	2,027,689	44	1.8	2,095,646	(4.3)	(404,306)	1.6	67,957
Fishermen	50.8	3.6	450,020	43.6	3.7	440,579	49.9	3.4	482,477	(7.2)	(9,441)	6.3	41,898

*Note:
1. The sectors are not mutually exclusive, e.g. women may also be counted as senior citizens, farmers, etc.
2. Other basic sectors such as the workers in the informal sectors, indigenous people, differently-abled persons, victims of calamities and disasters, non-government organization and cooperatives were not generated due to data limitations.

Among the basic sectors, the children, women and urban population accounted for the largest number of poor population in the country. The children sector accounted for the most number at 14.4 million, 1.4 million of which are in Region V. Women and urban poor sectors followed next with 12.8 and 6.9 million, respectively. The fishermen sector, while having the highest poverty incidence, had the smallest number of poor population at 482,477, followed by senior citizens at almost 1.3 million and farmers at 2.09 million.

Between 2003 and 2006, ARMM posted the biggest increases in poverty incidences in four basic sectors, namely, fishermen, senior citizens, urban poor and women while, Region IX registered the largest reduction in poverty incidences in five sectors namely: farmers, senior citizens, children, youth and women.

Table 2: Regions with Minimum and Maximum Poverty Incidences
for Each Basic Sector

Basic Sectors	Least Poor		Poorest
Basic Sectors	Region	Poverty Incidence (%)	Region	Poverty Incidence (%)
Women	NCR	9.7	ARMM	58.9
Youth	NCR	7.3	ARMM	53.2
Children	NCR	15.2	ARMM	66.3
Senior Citizens	NCR	4.4	ARMM	46.5
Urban Poor	CAR	7.4	ARMM	52.4
Migrant and Formal Sector Workers	NCR	4.8	CARAGA	36.8
Farmers	REGION II	16.9	ARMM	62.3
Fishermen	REGION III	23.9	CARAGA	66.7

ARMM posted the highest poverty incidences for 6 of the basic sectors namely: children, farmers, women, youth, urban poor and senior citizens with 66.3%, 62.3%, 58.9%, 53.2%, 52.4% and 46.5%, respectively. CARAGA recorded the highest poverty incidences for the remaining two sectors. On the other hand, NCR had the lowest poverty incidences in five sectors namely: children, women, youth, senior citizens, and the migrant and formal sector workers.

Table 3: Regions with the Most Number of Poor for Each Basic Sector

Basic Sectors	Magnitude		Region
	Highest	Lowest	Poorest	Least Poor
Children	1,420,163	262,711	1. Region V	1. CAR
			2. Region VI	2. Region II
			3. Region IVA	3. Caraga
Women	1,183,088	245,306	1. Region V	1. CAR
			2. Region VI	2. Region II
			3. Region IVA	3. Caraga
Urban Poor	1,138,424	37,563	1. NCR	1. CAR
			2. Region III	2. Region II
			3. Region IVA	3. Region IX
Youth	547,595	135,222	1. Region VI	1. CAR
			2. Region V	2. Region II
			3. Region IVA	3. Caraga
Migrant and Formal Sector Workers	400,251	41,863	1. Region VI	1. CAR
			2. Region III	2. ARMM
			3. Region IVA	3. Caraga
Farmers	212,188	47,118	1. ARMM	1. Region II
			2. Region VII	2. Region III
			3. Region V	3. CAR
Senior Citizens	144,473	26,936	1. Region VII	1. Region II
			2. Region VI	2. CAR
			3. Region VIII	3. NCR
Fishermen	116,725	2,512	1. ARMM	1. Region II
			2. Region V	2. NCR
			3. Region VII	3. Region III

In terms of magnitude, Region V has the most number of poor children and women, ARMM has the most number of poor farmers and fishermen, NCR has the most number of urban poor, Region VI has the most number of poor youth and migrant workers, and Region VII has the most number of poor senior citizens. CAR, on the other hand, has the least number of poor children, women, youth and urban poor.

ROMULO A. VIROLA
Secretary General

Contact Person:

Ms. Bernadette Balamban
Tel. No.: (+6 32) 896-7981
E-mail: bb.balamban@nscb.gov.ph

Highlights of the 2006 Poverty Statistics for the Basic Sectors

Table 2: Regions with Minimum and Maximum Poverty Incidences for Each Basic Sector

Table 2: Regions with Minimum and Maximum Poverty Incidences
for Each Basic Sector