Wednesday, January 16, 2008

One out of four below the poverty line

from Kuensel Online

The number of Bhutanese living below the national poverty line has dropped from 31.7 percent in 2004 to 23.2 percent of the total population, according to 2007 Bhutan Living Standard Survey (BLSS) carried out by the National Statistical Bureau.

The national poverty line has been established at a minimum monthly earning of Nu 1,096 a person, with estimated food requirement at Nu 688 and non-food requirement of Nu 408. Previously, the poverty line put the minimum monthly earning at Nu 740 a month.

The survey, which focussed solely on poverty analysis, puts the number of people below the poverty line at 146,100 out of an extrapolated population figure of 630,000.

The NSB estimates the population in 2007 at 658,888, a projection based on the 2005’s National Housing and Population census, which put the resident population at 634,982.

A NSB official said that the drop in the percentage was not drastic and attributed the decline to wider coverage by the survey and an increased sample items of food products.

“When sample items are less, the consumption report from the survey will also be less and more people will show under the poverty level,” said the official. Food sample items were increased from 83 in the last survey in 2003 to 118 in 2007.

NSB officials said that previously the poverty line of Nu 740 a month was arrived at by taking into account the cost of purchasing a bundle of food items consumed by the reference population, which was Nu 403 in 2003. To this was added the typical value of non-food spending by households that were just able to reach their food requirement, which was Nu 337.

In 2007, the cost of purchasing a bundle of food items was Nu 688.96 plus the non-food allowance of Nu 407.98, yielding a Poverty Line of Nu 1096.94 a person a month.

Poverty in Bhutan, according to the bureau officials, was still a rural phenomenon with higher rates found in Zhemgang, Samtse, Mongar, Lhuentse, and Samdrup Jongkhar.

In rural Bhutan, 30.9 percent fall below the poverty line compared to 1.7 in the urban areas. “The gap between the rich and the poor is also closing, though not significantly,” said the official.

Meanwhile, the survey estimates Bhutan’s sex ratio at 96 males for every 100 females, literacy rate at 56 percent, with Thimphu having the highest of 72 percent.

It also estimates the net enrolment rate at primary level to be 82 percent, with 23 percent, 19 percent and 11 percent at lower, middle and higher secondary levels.

Bhutan’s unemployment rate has also jumped from 3.2 to 3.7 percent, with unemployment rates higher in the age group 15 to 24 years. The labour force participation is estimated at 67.3 percent. The survey shows that about two-thirds of households own their own dwellings, but only one in five in urban areas own their living spaces.

According to the survey, health and public transport are generally given favourable ratings by households surveyed. While a fourth of urban households complain about waiting time in hospitals, rural respondents suggested roads, bridges, electricity, and water supply as their priorities to improve livelihood.

Most Bhutanese own a wris*****ch, a rice cooker, and a choesum (altar). Two in five households are landless, according to the survey, with four in five urban households not owning land and one in five rural households owning land.

The primary source of income in Bhutan is still farming, according to the survey.

Bhutan Living Standard Survey of 9,798 households

Sex ratio 96 males for every 100 females

1/4 of the population resides in urban areas

Unemployment rate estimated at 3.7%

Teenage pregnancy twice as common in rural areas as in urban areas

Average monthly household consumption expenditure estimated at Nu 13,823

Average per capita consumption expenditure at Nu 2,755 per person per month.

23.2 percent of the population found to be poor

Poverty rates found to be high in Zhemgang, Samtse, Mongar, Lhuentse, and Samdrup Jongkhar

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