The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) approved the clearance for the conduct of the 2021 Family Income and Expenditure Survey (FIES).

The 2021 FIES aims to:

a. gather data on family income and family living expenditure and related information affecting income and expenditure levels and patterns in the Philippines;
b. determine the sources of income and income distribution, levels of living and spending patterns, and the degree of inequality among families;
c. provide benchmark information to update weights in the estimation of Consumer Price lndex (CPl); and
d. provide inputs in the estimation of the country's poverty threshold and incidence.

A total budget of PhP 584 million will be utilized in the survey and approximately 180,000 households nationwide will be selected as samples for the 2021 FIES.

The FIES is a rider survey to the July 2021 and January 2022 rounds of the Labor Force Survey (LFS) for the first and second visits, respectively. The preliminary results of the 2021 FIES are expected to be released in October 2022.

Meanwhile, key results of the 2018 FIES showed that:

a. The average annual income of Filipino families was approximately PhP 313,000 while the average annual family expenditure was about PhP 239,000. Thus, on the average, Filipino family's savings amounted to PhP 74,000 in a year.
b. Among the regions, families in the National Capital Region (NCR) posted the highest average annual family income at PhP 460,000, while Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) registered the lowest average annual family income at PhP 161,000.
c. The Gini coefficient was estimated at 0.4267 in 2018 which was slightly lower than the Gini coefficient in 2015 (0.4438). Gini coefficient is a measure of the extent to which the distribution of income/expenditure among families/individuals deviates from a perfectly equal distribution, with limits 0 for perfect equality and 1 for perfect inequality.
 

The 2021 FIES was reviewed and cleared for conduct under the Statistical Survey Review and Clearance System (SSRCS), a mechanism being implemented by the PSA by virtue of Rule 28 of Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) of Republic Act (RA) No. 10625 to:

a. ensure sound design for data collection;
b. minimize the burden placed upon respondents;
c. effect economy in statistical data collection;
d. eliminate unnecessary duplication of statistical data collection efforts; and
e. achieve better coordination of government statistical activities.

In line with this, the PSA enjoins the public to support the said survey by providing the required information. An authorized PSA interviewer will visit the households to conduct a personal interview. The first visit of interviewers in sample households will be on 08 to 31 July 2021, while the second visit will be on 08-31 January 2022.

For further information on SSRCS, please contact the Statistical Standards Division (SSD) of the Standards Service (SS) with telephone numbers (02) 8376-1928 and (02) 8376-1931, and email addresses ssd.staff@psa.gov.ph and ssdss.staff@gmail.com.

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

See more at the Statistical Survey Review and Clearance System (SSRCS) landing page.