The 2022 Annual Poverty Indicators Survey (APIS) included questions related to the provision of adequate drinking water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) facilities similar to its first introduction in the 2017 APIS. The inclusion of WASH was primarily done to monitor the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) national indicators. This report presents the WASH indicators based on the results of the 2022 APIS.

Drinking Water

Results of the 2022 APIS showed that majority of the families had an improved source of drinking water (97.6%) with more than half of them having sourced their drinking water from refilling stations (54.3%). Other common source of drinking water was piped into dwelling unit (17.2%).

On the sufficiency of drinking water, majority of families reported that drinking water was always sufficient (93.2%). About 4.9 percent of the total families experienced insufficiency of drinking water at least once as it was not available from source. Furthermore, 84.0 percent of families did not practice any method or treatment in ensuring that drinking water is safe to drink. (Table 1)

In terms of service level of drinking water, majority (96.3%) had basic service level drinking water from an improved source with roundtrip collection time not more than 30 minutes.

Percentage of families with basic drinking water service level in urban areas (98.4%) was higher than in rural areas (94.1%). On the contrary, families with limited service level (1.9%) and unimproved service level (3.9%) were higher in rural areas than in urban areas with less than one percent each. (Figure 1 and Table 2)

Across regions, NCR and Region III-Central Luzon (99.3% each) had the highest percentage of families with access to basic service level of drinking water, followed by Region II-Cagayan Valley and Region I-Ilocos with 99.1 percent each. Regions with the least access to basic service level were Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) (87.8%), Region V-Bicol (90.1%), and Region IX-Zamboanga Peninsula (90.2%). (Figure 2 and Table 2)

Sanitation

In 2022, about 84.0 percent of the families had basic sanitation service level or used an improved sanitation facility that is not shared with another household. Moreover, about one out of 10 families (10.8%) had a limited service level or using an improved sanitation facility but shared with two or more households. The rest of the families had an unimproved service level (2.7%), and no sanitation facility or they practiced open defecation (2.6%).

By residence, urban areas (84.6%) and rural areas (83.3%) had almost equal percentage of families with access to basic sanitation facility. However, the percentage of rural families practicing open defecation (4.0%) was higher than in urban area (1.2%). (Figure 3, and Tables 3 and 4)

Across regions, the top three regions with the highest percentage of families with basic service sanitation facilities were Region III-Central Luzon (92.5%), Region IVA-CALABARZON (90.4%), and Region II-Cagayan Valley (89.8%). On the other hand, regions with the lowest percentage of families with basic service sanitation facilities were BARMM (51.6%), Region XII-SOCCSKSARGEN (73.8%), and Region VII-Central Visayas (76.3%). In addition, BARMM had the highest percentage of families practicing open defecation with no toilet facility (9.7%), followed by Region V-Bicol (8.1%) and Region VI-Western Visayas (7.1%). (Figure 4 and Table 4)

Handwashing

About 92.2 percent of the families had a handwashing facility, in which the most common was fixed facility with sink/tap in the dwelling (70.4%). Other facilities used were fixed facility with sink/tap in the yard/plot (11.2%) and mobile object like bucket/jug/kettle (10.6%). Among those with available handwashing facility, majority had available water (97.2%) with provision of bar/liquid soap (80.2%) and/or detergent soap (37.6%) for handwashing. (Table 5)

By type of handwashing service level, most of families (93.2%) had access to basic handwashing. (Table 6)

By residence, urban areas (94.6%) had a higher percentage of families with basic service level of handwashing as compared with rural areas (91.8%). Meanwhile, rural areas had higher percentages of families with limited service of handwashing (4.0%) and no handwashing facility (4.2%) as compared in urban areas with limited service level (2.6%) and no handwashing facility (2.8%). (Table 6)

Across regions, Region IV-CALABARZON (97.7%) and Region VI-Western Visayas (97.7%) had the highest percentage of families with access to basic service handwashing facilities, followed by Region III-Central Luzon (96.1%). Regions with the lowest percentage of families with basic handwashing facilities were BARMM (75.7%), Region VIII-Eastern Visayas (81.2%), and Region XII-SOCCSKSARGEN (81.4%). (Figure 6 and Table 6)

The APIS is a nationwide survey conducted by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA). It is designed to provide non-income indicators related to poverty at the national and regional levels. It also gathers socio-economic profile of families and other information related to their living condition.

Additional information about the 2022 APIS may be obtained from the Philippine Statistics Authority, PSA Complex, East Avenue, Diliman, Quezon City, Philippines; Telephone: +63-(02)-462-6600; Email: info@psa.gov.ph; Website: https://psa.gov.ph.

DENNIS S. MAPA, Ph.D.
Undersecretary
National Statistician and Civil Registrar General