The average income of Filipino families hardly increased in January to June 2021 from three years earlier, a survey released on Saturday by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) showed.
Citing the highlights of the preliminary results of the 2021 Family Income and Expenditure Survey, the PSA said the average income of Filipino families from January to June 2021 was estimated at P149,980, up barely 0.2 percent from the P149,710 in the same period in 2018.
It also said that average family expenditure over the same period was P113,670, down 5.9 percent from P120,750 in the first half of 2018.
"Wages and salaries remained to be the primary source of family income," the agency added.
Wages and salaries accounted for 51.4 percent of total household income in the first six months of the year. This was estimated to be 49.5 percent in 2018.
Wages and salaries, entrepreneurial activities, cash receipts from overseas, imputed rent and cash receipts from domestic sources, the PSA added, continue to be the largest contributors to total family income.
"The expenditure on food items remained to have the highest share of total expenditures in the first half of 2021," it continued.
Food expenditures accounted for 42.9 percent of total income, followed by housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels (25.1 percent), insurance, and miscellaneous activities (7.3 percent), transport (5.7 percent) and health (3.3 percent).
Source: Manila times