Poverty incidence rose to 18.1 percent based on the preliminary results of the Family Income and Expenditure Survey (FIES) in 2021, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said Monday.

This was higher than 16.7 percent in 2018 and the target of 15.5 percent to 17.5 percent.

The 18.1 percent ''translates to around 19.99 million Filipinos who lived below the poverty threshold of about P12,030 per month for a family of five,'' the PSA said.

In 2018, there were 17.67 million who lived below the poverty threshold of a P10, 756 monthly for a family of five, PSA said.

The subsistence incidence, defined as the proportion of Filipinos whose income is not enough to meet even just the basic food needs, increased to 5.9 percent in 2021 from 5.2 percent in 2018

It was estimated that a family of five needs at least P8,379 per month to meet their basic food requirements from P7,533 in 2018, PSA said.

Among families, around 3.50 million families or 13.2 percent were considered poor in 2021. This was up from 12.1 percent in 2018.

The subsistence incidence among families was observed at 3.9 percent, which is equivalent to 1.04 million poor families below the food poverty line. DMS