Total expenditures of families in the region likewise increased by 31.98 percent or an average annual increase of 9.69 percent. From P64.9B in 1997, it reached P85.7B in 2000. At constant prices or if the changes brought by inflation are isolated, however, total expenditures of families reached only P69.0B in 2000, an increase of 6.34 percent from its 1997 level of P64.9B or an average annual rate of 2.07 percent. At current and constant prices, the total expenditures of the region represent 4.6 percent of the total expenditures of families in the country.

At current prices, average income of families in the Bicol Region reached P89,169 in 2000, up by 15.6 percent from the 1997 figure of P67,012 or an average annual increase of 4.9 percent. Average expenditures of families amounted to P78,113, an increased of 16.6 percent from the 1997 level of P67,012 or an average annual increase of 5.24 percent. 

On the other hand, adjusting the figures at current prices to the 24.1 percent inflation from 1997 to 2000, average income of families in the region amounted to only P71,846 in 2000 or a decrease of 6.85 percent from P77,132 in 1997. This translates to an average annual decrease in the average income of families of 2.33 percent. The 13.20 percent increase in the number of families (around 969,000 in 1997 to about 1,097,000) caused the increase in the total income and total expenditures of the region and the decrease in the average family income. In other words, there were more families in 2000 than in 1997 but not necessarily more income.

Similarly, average expenditures of families at constant prices reached only P62,938 in 2000, a decrease of 6.1 percent from P67,012 in 1997 or an average decrease of 2.1 percent annually.

Source of basic data: National Statistics Office