Filipinos face poverty on multiple fronts, new PSA data shows

PSA data shows 12.8% of Filipinos were multidimensionally poor in 2024, facing deprivation beyond income.

Poverty isn’t always visible in a paycheck, with new data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) showing that 12.8% of Filipinos were classified as “multidimensionally poor,” meaning they face several kinds of deprivation at the same time, in 2024. That’s nearly 1 in 8 people.

Being multidimensionally poor means facing several disadvantages that affect daily life beyond income, such as incomplete education, limited employment opportunities, poor housing, inadequate water and sanitation, or limited access to health and nutrition.

The PSA’s Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) considers a household multidimensionally poor when these combined deprivations reach a set level, giving a wider picture of poverty than income alone.

Education was the biggest source of deprivation, particularly among adults aged 19 and above who had not completed high school, while housing, water, and sanitation also remained major challenges.

The MPI gives a different picture from the country’s traditional poverty rate, which measures whether a household’s income falls below the official poverty threshold.

The agency said a family can earn enough to stay above the income-based poverty line while still living in inadequate housing, lacking reliable access to clean water, or having members who did not finish basic education.

The PSA reported last week that income-based poverty incidence fell to a record-low 9.7% in 2025, but the MPI shows that a decline in income-poor households does not automatically mean fewer households are facing difficult living conditions.

The MPI offers a broader way of looking at poverty, showing that a paycheck tells only part of the story. A family may be above the official poverty line and still struggle with education, housing, clean water, sanitation, or health, underscoring how poverty can take several forms at the same time.

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