CAR Poverty Threshold:  P13,181 in 2002

The annual per capita poverty threshold in the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) was estimated at P 13,181 in 2002, a very slight increase of 0.04 percent over the 2000 threshold of P 13,176 (Table 1).  The new threshold means that a family of five members, the average in the region, should have a monthly income of P 5,492 to meet its food and non-food basic needs.

In urban areas, the poverty threshold was placed at P 14,113 in 2002, around 2.2 percent over the 2000 threshold of P 13,802.  On the other hand, poverty threshold in rural areas slightly decreased by about 0.2 percent, from P 13,116 in 2000 to P 13,092 in 2002.  This means that the minimum income required to meet food and non-food basic needs was rising faster in urban areas than in rural areas where it even posted a reverse trend.

Mountain Province consistently had the highest poverty threshold in CAR for the three-year period 2000-2002 (Table 1).  An individual living in the province needed to have an annual income of P 14,898 in 2002 to meet his food and non-food needs.  Although the threshold dropped by 2.4 percent in 2002 from the 2000 level, Mt. Province still ranked fourth among all the provinces in the country with the highest poverty thresholds.  Except NCR, the other provinces that had poverty thresholds higher than Mt. Province in 2002 were: (1) Cavite withP 15,516; (2) Batangas, P 15,362; and (3) Pampanga, P 15,066.

The annual per capita food threshold for the region in 2002 stood at P 8,923, a 0.6 percent increase over the 2000 threshold of P 8,873 (Table 2).  The 2002 figure is equivalent to P 3,718 per month for a family consisting of five members to be able to meet its minimum food needs. 

Poverty thresholds in the Cordilleras were higher in the urban areas but did not hold true to the food thresholds.  Rural food thresholds remained higher than urban food thresholds.  In 2002 alone, the rural food threshold was P 8,944 while the urban food threshold was lower at P 8,400.