Filipino families' savings decline

Filipino families’ savings decline
By Cheryl M. Arcibal, Reporter

THE amount Filipino families set aside as savings dipped despite a slight increase in their average income, the National Statistics Office reported Friday.

Comparing the results of its 2000 and 2003 family income and expenditures survey, the NSO said that while Filipino families earned an average of P147,888 in 2003, up by 1.9 percent from P145,121 in 2000, savings contracted by 7.9 percent.

Average annual savings in 2000 was P26,282, higher than the 2003 figure of P24,198.

Total savings in 2003, however, stood at P398.8 billion, up by 0.7 percent from P396.1 billion in 2000.

The total income of the estimated 16.48 million Filipino families in 2003 was recorded at P2.4 trillion, an increase of 11.4 percent from the P2,187 trillion earned by 15.07 million families in 2000.

The failure of household savings to keep up with rising incomes was due to higher expenditures, as families in 2003 spent an average of P123,690 a year, or 4.1 percent higher than spending of P118,839 in 2000.

Total household spending in 2003 reached P2 trillion or 13.8 percent higher than the P1.8 trillion in 2000.

The same NSO report said the Gini ratio, or the index of income concentration in 2003, was lower at 0.4605, down by 4.5 percent from 0.4822 in 2000. A lower Gini coefficient indicates a more equal income distribution among Filipino families.

Manila Times
Saturday, January 14, 2006