Photo: Ministry of Finance, and Budget and Management-BARMM
CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY (August 28) — The Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) posted the country’s most striking reduction in poverty as all 18 regions registered declines in poverty incidence among families between 2023 and 2025, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).
BARMM’s poverty incidence among families plunged from 26 percent in 2023 to 12.8 percent in 2025, a drop of 13.2 percentage points that placed the region among the biggest gainers nationwide.
The improvement is particularly significant for Mindanao, where poverty has long remained higher than the national average and where communities continue to face gaps in jobs, infrastructure, basic services and economic opportunities.
The PSA’s updated 2025 full-year official poverty statistics, based on preliminary results of the Family Income and Expenditure Survey, showed that the decline was not confined to BARMM. All 18 regions recorded significant reductions in poverty incidence among families, reflecting a broad-based improvement in household economic conditions.
At the national level, poverty incidence among the population fell to 9.7 percent in 2025, equivalent to about 11.08 million Filipinos whose incomes remained insufficient to meet their minimum basic food and non-food needs. Among families, the poverty incidence declined to 6.4 percent, or about 1.90 million families.
The latest figures mean that about 6.5 million Filipinos were lifted above the poverty threshold between 2023 and 2025, with the number of poor Filipinos dropping from about 17.5 million to 11 million.
For BARMM, the sharp decline marks a major turnaround for a region that has historically recorded some of the country’s highest poverty levels.
But the numbers also underscore the challenge facing governments in translating poverty reduction into sustained livelihoods, productive employment and long-term economic security.
The Department of Economy, Planning, and Development said social protection programs, including the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program and social pension, contributed to the reduction in poverty.
DEPDev Undersecretary Rosemarie Edillon said the government would now put greater emphasis on generating jobs and attracting investments, particularly in areas that continue to struggle with poverty.
“Ginawa naming komprehensibo na plano ito,” Edillon said, referring to the Trabaho Para sa Bayan plan, which includes improving local ease of doing business and infrastructure to attract investments.
For Mindanao, that strategy could prove critical.
Poverty reduction cannot depend solely on cash assistance. The next challenge is to ensure that families who have crossed the poverty threshold do not fall back when food prices rise, jobs disappear or communities are hit by disasters.
That means creating stable jobs, stronger local industries, better infrastructure and market opportunities in poorer provinces and municipalities.
BARMM’s dramatic improvement shows that substantial progress is possible. The harder task now is making that progress durable—and ensuring that the region’s poorest households are not simply lifted above the poverty line statistically, but given the economic security to stay there.
