Ilocos Norte – The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported a 2.5 percent poverty incidence for Ilocos Norte making it the least poor province in the Ilocos Region for 2021.
For the past 10 years, the PSA listed Ilocos Norte, which is a first-class province in terms of income, as one of the provinces with the lowest poverty incidence.
According to Gervy James Gumarit, Communication and Media Officer of Ilocos Norte, the significant development could be attributed to the numerous programs of both local and national governments to create more jobs and livelihood opportunities for the residents.
“We have been prioritizing programs on poverty reduction, ensuring that no Ilocano is left behind in terms of agriculture, health, education, jobs, and livelihood, among others,” Gumarit added.
From 4.5 percent in 2018, Ilocos Norte’s poverty incidence declined to 2.5 percent in 2021, followed by La Union province with 9.3 percent from 4.4 percent, Ilocos Sur with 15.1 percent from 7.5 percent and Pangasinan with 17.9 percent from 12.9 percent during the same period.
The PSA also reported that the region’s unemployment rate went down to 5.3 percent in 2019 from 8.9 percent in 2017 but increased significantly in 2020 to 13.4 percent due to the pandemic.
However, with the government’s continuing efforts of providing various measures to assist people in crisis situation and the provision of emergency employment and livelihood assistance, the unemployment status in the region improved in 2021 to 8.2 percent.
