MANILA -- Poverty incidence, which measures the number of Filipinos who don't have enough for basic food and non-food needs, declined in 2018 from three years prior, official data released Friday showed.

Among individuals, poverty incidence fell to 16.6 percent in 2018 from 23.3 percent in 2015. This means 166 out of every 1,000 Filipinos belong to poor families whose incomes are not enough for basic needs, National Statistician Claire Dennis Mapa said.

Among families, poverty incidence fell to 12.1 percent from, 17.9 percent during the same comparable period, Mapa said.

In 2018, a family of five needed an average P10,727 per month for basic food and non-food needs, 13.5 percent higher than the P9,452 needed in 2015, Mapa said.

The numbers translate to 17.6 million Filipinos whose incomes fall below the poverty threshold in 2018, down from 23.5 million in 2015, Mapa said. During the same period, the number of poor families declined to 3 million from 4.1 million, he said.

The food threshold or the amount needed for a family of 5 to meet basic food needs was at P7,528 in 2018, up 14 percent from P6,605 in 2015.

The subsistence incidence, which refers to those whose income fall below the minimum needed to meet food needs was at 3.4 percent in 2018, meaning 34 out of every 1,000 Filipinos don't earn enough for basic food, Mapa said. The rate was at 6.4 percent in 2015, he said.

The 3.4 percent subsistence translates to 800,000 families who fall below the food poor threshold, down from 1.5 million families in 2015, he said.