15.5 million Filipino families consider themselves poor in April 2025 – SWS

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A month before the midterm elections, self-rated poor families were at their highest in 2025 at 55%

MANILA, Philippines – Some 15.5 million Filipino families considered themselves poor in April 2025, according to a new Social Weather Stations’ (SWS) survey.

A month before the midterm elections, self-rated poor families were at their highest in 2025 at 55%. The number gradually inched up with every month.

Chart from SWS

Some 32% of families did not consider themselves poor, moving away from a record-high of 36% that the Philippines sustained for the first quarter of the year.

Meanwhile, 12% said they were borderline poor, hardly changing since the start of the year.

The survey was conducted from April 11 to 15.

Self-rated poverty rose in all areas of the country except Balance Luzon, or Luzon outside Metro Manila, which had a slight decline. It was highest in Mindanao at 70%, followed by the Visayas at 67%, Metro Manila at 45%, and Balance Luzon at 44%.

Those who did not consider themselves poor fell in Mindanao, from 27% to 16%, from 25% to 21% in the Visayas, and 48% to 45% in Metro Manila. There was not much movement in Balance Luzon, but there was a 1-point rise from 43% to 44%.

Chart from SWS

Self-rated poverty has been rising even as latest data from the Philippine Statistics Authority showed a slowing down inflation rate in March and less jobless Filipinos in February. – Rappler.com