Household spending per capita gives snapshot of inequality

Government data showed per capita household spending growing by 4.2% in 2017 to P56, 936, slower than the 5.4% increase seen in 2016.
Disaggregating the data shows that only five out of the country’s 17 regions grew faster than the national average: Central Luzon (6%), Davao Region (5.4%), Western Visayas (5.3%), Mimaropa (5.1%), and the Cavite-Laguna-Batangas-Rizal-Quezon region or CALABARZON (4.8%).
In absolute terms, only three — National Capital Region (NCR), Central Luzon, and CALABARZON — posted above-average per capita household consumption levels, with NCR being the highest spender. Furthermore, only four — Mimaropa, Cagayan Valley, Caraga, and the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao — saw faster growth in per capita household spending last year compared to 2016. — Miguel Alfonso A. Lim