In the Last Twelve Years, Philippine Income Inequality Has Declined Substantially

In the last twelve years, Income Inequality in the Philippines has declined substantially, primarily because income growth in the lowest classes have outpaced that of the upper classes. From 2006 to 2018, average per capita incomes for the poorest decile grew by a CAGR of 11.1% a year, while the incomes for the richest decile grew by a CAGR of only 2.81% during the same period. The average Filipino's income also grew by a decent CAGR of 5.1% a year.  As a result, the richest decile, which once towered over the poorest decile by almost 20 times income in 2006, now has a less intimidating ratio of less than 8 times income of the poorest class. For the average Filipino, that ratio has been cut in half, from 5.4 times the poorest decile in 2006 to just 2.8 times in 2018.

Related Links: Why Do Filipinos Love Duterte So Much? Because Income Growth was Fastest Among the Poorer Classes!

Source: Family Income and Expenditure Survey 2018

Why Do Filipinos Love Duterte So Much? Because Income Growth was Fastest Among the Poorer Classes!

Incomes grew across the board.

But incomes grew fastest among the lower classes. The lowest decile gained the most, while the highest income decile grew the least.

The ratio of the highest income decile to the lowest income decile has narrowed, reducing income inequality further.

Source: FIES Philippines, 2012, 2015, and 2018, Philippine Statistical Authority

Which Philippine Region Has the Highest Income Inequality?

We all know that Metro Manila, otherwise known as the National Capital Region (NCR), is the richest region in the Philippines.  Without question, it is the center of government, business, and finance in the entire country.

This is plainly evident in the 2015 Family Income and Expenditure Survey (FIES), where the NCR towers above the rest of the country in terms of Median Income Per Capita: Php 313,000 for NCR vs. Php 180,000 for the entire Philippines.

But which region has the highest income inequality?  One easy way to do that is by taking the ratio of the tenth decile (the top 10% in income) to the first decile (the bottom 10% in income).

From the 2015 FIES, we get this table...

	Median Income Per Capita (In Thousands of Pesos)
Region	Overall	Bottom 10%	Top 10%	Top/Bottom
Philippines	180	83	652	785.54%
NCR	313	164	940	573.17%
CAR	196	93	595	639.78%
Region I - Ilocos Region	173	99	553	558.59%
Region II - Cagayan Valley	168	98	557	568.37%
Region III - Central Luzon	223	103	614	596.12%
Region IVA - Calabarzon	234	106	711	670.75%
Region IVB - MIMAROPA	142	79	608	769.62%
Region V - Bicol Region	136	88	482	547.73%
Region VI - Western Visayas	149	87	523	601.15%
Region VII - Central Visayas	160	62	607	979.03%
Region VIII - Eastern Visayas	124	72	526	730.56%
Region IX - Zamboanga Peninsula	127	73	503	689.04%
Region X - Northern Mindanao	135	68	612	900.00%
Region XI - Davao Region	166	85	571	671.76%
Region XII - SOCSKSARGEN	123	56	495	883.93%
Region XIII - Caraga	134	74	544	735.14%
ARMM	115	82	255	310.98%

and this chart:

Based on this, we can see that the region with the highest income inequality is actually Region VII - Central Visayas, composed of the three provinces of Bohol, Cebu, and Siquijor.  In terms of overall income, this region is "middle of the road." Its median income per capita was only Php 160,000 in 2015, slightly lower than the Philippines median income per capita of Php 180,000. But, in Central Visayas, the top 10% earn almost 10 times the bottom, higher than the overall Philippine ratio of 7.85 times.

NCR was actually more egalitarian, wherein the richest 10% "only" earned 5.73 times the poorest 10%.  Surprisingly, the most egalitarian region is also the poorest: ARMM, where the median per capita income is only Php 115,000 (around US$ 2,300). There, the richest 10% earn "only" around 3.11 times the poorest 10%.