The number of poor people (residents who have an average per capita expenditure per month under the Poverty Line) in West Sulawesi Province in March 2007 was 189.9 thousand people, down about 1,400 compared to the situation in July 2006. Even so , the amount of almost 190 thousand population is still quite large for West Sulawesi, whose population is still very small (around 1 million)
Likewise, the relative number (percentage) of poor people during the period dropped insignificantly, namely 0.27 percent, in July 2006 to around 19.03 percent in March 2007.
Although the total poor population in West Sulawesi has indeed declined, the conditions between urban and rural areas are different. The number of poor people in rural areas has decreased, but in urban areas it has actually increased. During the period of July 2006-March 2007, the poor population in rural areas decreased by 3,400 people, while in urban areas it actually increased by around 2,000 people. This might be due to the "shifting" of poor people (non-income residents) from rural to urban areas in search of work.
During the July 2006-March 2007 period, the Poverty Line increased by 10.37 percent, from Rp.121,843 per capita per month in July 2006 to Rp.134,473 per capita per month in March 2007. However, it did not add the number of people falling below the poverty line. This means that the purchasing power of the people of West Sulawesi in this period has relatively increased. This is reflected in increased production and improved prices for some plantation commodities (mainly cocoa) during this period. ƒ The role of food commodities on the Poverty Line is far greater than the role of non-food commodities, which is 82 percent versus 18 percent.
Urban areas are quite vulnerable to price changes in food commodities in influencing the poverty line, because urban people tend to buy food, whereas in rural areas most are obtained from their own production, so they are not so affected.
In the period July 2006-March 2007, the Poverty Depth Index (P1) and the Poverty Severity Index (P2) showed a declining trend. This indicates that the average expenditure of the poor tends to get closer to the poverty line and the inequality of expenditure of the poor is also narrowing.
