S5IW Justine Songco 10D29 Date: January 28, 2023

The correlation of the

GDP per capita with
Politics, Poverty
Incidence, and Literacy
Rate in the Philippines
GDP PER CAPITA
2000-2021
Source: Macrotrends
POVERTY INCIDENCE
2000-2021
LITERACY RATE
2000-2019

Source: Macrotrends
line chart/graph displaying GDP per capita, literacy rate,
and poverty incidence from 2000-2021

Interpretation
As we can see from the graphs, the performance indices of GDP per capita, poverty and
literacy rates seem to have little to no correlation. The GDP appears to rise quite
sharply and pretty steadily, while the poverty and literacy remain almost flat, despite
minimal decline.
The GDP per capita experienced an overall increase of 230.75% from $1073 in 2000
to $3549 in 2021.
The literacy rate experienced an overall increase of 3.97% from 92.6% in 2000 to
96.28% 2019.
[Individual] poverty incidence experienced an overall decrease of 54.06% from
39.4% in 2000 to 18.1% in 2021.
From 2002 to 2008, there was a steady rise in the Philippine GDP per capita. While
there was a decline from 2008-2009, GDP per capita rose steadily once again, this time
for 10 years from 2009-2019. It took a dip in 2019 but picked up again in 2020 despite
the onset of the pandemic. The timeliness of the rise and fall of the Philippine GDP are
associated closely with political events such as national elections, political scandals
and changes in fiscal policies which are beyond the scope of this study.
Interpretation
It stands to follow that literacy rates remain largely unaffected by the rise of GDP
per capita, much like the poverty rate. Because the economic status of the poor is
not elevated, the literacy rates have not improved as well.
There was a sharp decline in the poverty incidence from 2000 to 2003 (63.2%), but
from 2012 to 2018, the poverty incidence had decreased (66.27%), and from 2018,
the poverty incidence has been on a rise (8.38%).
As the GDP per capita increases and the nation's income rises, it is understandable
and evident that poverty incidence falls, and as poverty incidence falls, literacy
rates rise.
Interpretation
GMA's term was from 2001-2010, PNoy's term was from 2010-2016, and Duterte's
term was from 2016-2022
The effect's of GMA's policies governance can be seen in the graph, as during the
period between 2001 to 2010, the GDP per capita experienced a 123.71%
increase. (This was likely because she was an economist, and she knew how to
implement the proper policies to enable the economy to grow, such as the
emergence of call centers during this period.)
The 4.7% decline from 2008 to 2009 could be attributed to the Hello Garci
scandal.
Under PNoy's term from 2010 to 2016, the Philippine GDP per capita increased
steadily (38.66%)
In 2020 during the pandemic, while many businesses closed (which caused the
5.28% dip from 2019-2020), many small enterprises mushroomed, so GDP was
on the rise again.
 Interpretation
Common sense tells us that with the rise of GDP per capita, we should
expect a decline in the incidence of poverty. Our gathered data indicates
however, that despite the steady growth of our country's GDP per capita,
there has been very little change in poverty incidence rates. One
possible reason might be due to the inequitable distribution of wealth in
our country. The growth in GDP is likely attributed to the rich getting
richer while the nation's growth in income does not trickle down to the
poorest of the poor.
 sources
Fajardo, F. (2019, April 14). Understanding the Philippine poverty report. Cebu Daily News.
https://cebudailynews.inquirer.net/228249/understanding-the-philippine-poverty-report

Macrotrends. (n.d.). Philippines literacy rate 1980-2023. https://www.macrotrends.net/countries/PHL/philippines/literacy-rate

Macrotrends. (n.d.). Philippines GDP per capita 1960-2023. https://www.macrotrends.net/countries/PHL/philippines/gdp-per

capita#:~:text=Philippines%20gdp%20per%20capita%20for,a%204.13%25%20increase%20from%202017

Philippine Statistics Authority. (2011, February). 2009 official poverty statistics of the Philippines. PSA.
https://psa.gov.ph/sites/default/files/2009%20Poverty%20Statistics.pdf

Philippine Statistics Authority. (2013, December 09). 2012 full year official poverty statistics. PSA.
https://psa.gov.ph/sites/default/files/Report%20on%20the%202012%20Full%20Year%20Poverty%20Statistics_0_0.pdf

Philippine Statistics Authority. (2016, October 27). 2015 full year official poverty statistics of the Philippines. PSA.
https://psa.gov.ph/sites/default/files/2015%20Full%20Year%20Official%20Poverty%20Statistics%20of%20the%20Philippines
%20Publication_0.pdf

Philippine Statistics Authority. (2022, August 15). 2021 full year official poverty statistics of the Philippines. PSA.
https://psa.gov.ph/sites/default/files/Preliminary%202021%20Full%20Year%20Poverty%20Statistics%20Publication
_25Aug2022_1.pdf

Philippine Statistics Authority. (2022, August 15). Proportion of poor Filipinos was recorded at 18.1 percent in 2021. PSA
https://psa.gov.ph/poverty-press-releases/nid/167972

The World Bank. (n.d.). Literacy rate, adult total (% of people ages 15 and above) - Philippines.
https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SE.ADT.LITR.ZS?locations=PH