Highlights of 2006 Family Income and Expenditure Survey: SOCCSKSARGEN Region BACKGROUND The 2006 Family Income and Expenditure Survey (FIES) is a nationwide survey of households undertaken every three years by the National Statistics Office (NSO). It is the main source of data on family income and expenditure, which include among others, levels of consumption by item of expenditure as well as sources of income in cash and in kind. The results of FIES provide information on the levels of living and disparities in income of Filipino families, as well as their spending patterns. Two levels of income were utilized in FIES – national and regional. The national income decile is obtained by ranking the weighted total family of all sample families in the Philippines from lowest to highest. These are then group into tens. The first tenth, meaning those with lowest income, is called the first decile, the second tenth, second decile and so on. A similar procedure is implemented for the regional decile, except that what is arrayed is the total weighted total family income of sample families in a given region. HIGHLIGHTS The total annual family income of SOCCSKSARGEN in 2006 was estimated at P 85.3 billion indicating an increase of 6 percent over the 2003 estimate of P 80.1 billion. The total family expenditure was approximately P 71.7 billion, an increase of 19 percent over the 2003 estimate of P 60.2 billion. Adjusting for the inflation between 2003 and 2006, total family income in 2006 (P85 billion) would be valued at P70 billion at 2003 prices. Likewise, the total family expenditure in 2006 (P72 billion) would be valued at P59.1 billion at 2003 prices. In real terms, the total income of families increased slightly by 6 percent while the total expenditure increased by 19 percent between 2003 and 2006. Also, the average family income decreased by 17 percent while average family expenditure decreased by 7 percent. Thus, the 2006 real average savings by families is equivalent to P15 thousand at 2003 prices, which is lower than the 2003 average savings of P28 thousand per family. TOTAL INCOME, EXPENDITURES AND SAVINGS OF FAMILIES BY PROVINCE,  SOCCKSARGEN: 2006 (IN BILLIONS) Province 2006 (Current) 2006 @ 2003 Prices (2003=100) 2003 Income Exp Savings Income Exp Savings Income Exp Savings SOCCSKSARGEN 85.3 71.7 13.5 70.3 59.1 11.2 80.1 60.2 20   Cotabato (North) 22.2 17.4 4.8 18.3 14.3 4 19 15.2 3.7   South Cotabato 36.5 30.8 5.7 30.1 25.4 4.7 41.2 27.3 13.9   Sultan Kudarat 12.1 10.7 1.4 10 8.8 1.1 9.3 8.4 1   Sarangani 9 8.7 0.3 7.4 7.1 0.3 6.6 6 0.7 PERCENT CHANGE OF TOTAL INCOME, EXPENDITURES AND SAVINGS BY REAL AND CURRENT PRICES, SOCCSKSARGEN: 2006 Province % Change (Current) % Change  @ 2003 Prices (2003=100) Income Exp Savings Income Exp Savings SOCCSKSARGEN 6% 19% -32% -12% -2% -44%   Cotabato (North) 17% 14% 30% -3% -6% 7%   South Cotabato -11% 13% -59% -27% -7% -66%   Sultan Kudarat 29% 28% 43% 7% 5% 18%   Sarangani 35% 45% -51% 11% 19% -60% AVERAGE INCOME, EXPENDITURES AND SAVINGS OF FAMILIES IN SOCCSKSARGEN, BY PROVINCE: 2006 Province 2006 (Current) 2006 @ 2003 Prices (2003=100) 2003 Income Exp Savings Income Exp Savings Income Exp Savings SOCCSKSARGEN 113,919 95,836 18,083 93,915 79,007 14,908 113,119 84,916 28,203   Cotabato (North) 102,814 80,386 22,428 84,760 66,270 18,490 93,767 75,363 18,404   South Cotabato 136,672 115,189 21,483 112,673 94,962 17,711 162,679 107,798 54,881   Sultan Kudarat 91,414 80,917 10,498 75,362 66,708 8,654 74,392 66,637 7,754   Sarangani 91,978 88,658 3,320 75,827 73,090 2,737 71,368 64,281 7,088 In 2006, the average annual income of Filipino families was estimated at P114 thousand. Across income deciles , this average ranged from P30 thousand for the first income decile (or lowest income group) to P380 thousand for the tenth income decile (highest income group). Income decile is the distribution of families into ten groups in terms of annual family income. The first decile has the lowest income and tenth decile has the highest income. The 2006 average annual income (P114thousand) is only 0.7 percent higher than the 2003 estimated average of P113 thousand. Meanwhile, the average annual expenditure of families increased from P85 thousand in 2003 to P96 thousand in 2006, or by 12.9 percent over the three-year period. These numbers translate into average savings in 2006 of only P18 thousand per family; the 2003 estimate was P28 thousand per family. These savings came mainly from the tenth income decile with P127 thousand per family on the average in 2006. From 2003 to 2006, annual income in all deciles increased except for the 10th decile. Still, the income combined of the 10th decile comprise almost one-third of the region’s total. The average annual income of the bottom 30 percent of families (or the lowest three income deciles combined) increased by around P6 thousand. The income distribution changed slightly from 2003 to 2006. The share to the total income of families belonging to the tenth decile exhibited a slight decrease, from 42.5 percent in 2003 to 33.4 percent in 2006. The gap in family income between the families belonging to the tenth decile and those in the first decile had narrowed slightly. In 2006, the total family income of the tenth decile was about 13 times that of the first decile, while it was 20 times that of the first decile in 2003. The Gini coefficient was estimated at 0.401 in 2006, slightly lower than the 2003 ratio of 0.479. The Gini coefficient provides a measure of income inequality within a population. A Gini coefficient ranges from 0 to 1, with 0 indicating perfect income equality among families, and 1 indicating absolute income inequality. Spending pattern of Filipino families particularly among those in the bottom 10 percent of the income group continue to slide towards less spending on food. In 2006, 55 percent of all expenditures by this group were on food items, while it was 64 percent in 2003. This means that for every P100 spent by this group in 2006, P55 went to food, compared to P64 in 2003. There was a staggering increase. Non-food expenditures of this group were spent on loan payments, premiums and other losses. For more information or data request on the final report of the 2006 Family Income and Expenditures Survey , send us email or visit NSO SOCCSKSARGEN Regional and its Provincial Offices near you.