The number of poor families in Batangas increase in 2023 despite the province being a part of the rapidly-growing CALABARZON region.
Data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) released in January 2025 showed that the number of poor families in Batangas grew by 7,200—from 32,300 in 2021 to 39,500 in 2023.
The poverty incidence in the province also rose from 4.3 percent in 2021 to 4.9 percent in 2023, the PSA said.
Meanwhile, the number of poor families in neighboring Cavite, Laguna and Quezon went down, an indication that residents are not benefitting from the province’s supposed industrial and tourism growth.
The subsistence incidence in Batangas—or the percentage of families whose income is insufficient to meet even basic food needs—also increased. From 1.0 percent in 2021, it climbed to 1.4 percent in 2023, the second highest in the region.
A family in Batangas now needs to earn P15,457 per month to meet their basic food and non-food needs. This is higher than the P12,845 required in 2021.