51 percent of Pinoy families feel poor – SWS

Upgrade to High-Speed Internet for only ₱1499/month!

Enjoy up to 100 Mbps fiber broadband, perfect for browsing, streaming, and gaming.

Visit Suniway.ph to learn

January 10, 2026 | 12:00am

MANILA, Philippines — A slim majority of Filipino families rated themselves poor at the end of 2025, according to the fourth quarter survey conducted by Social Weather Stations (SWS).

Results of the Nov. 24 to 30 survey released yesterday showed that 51 percent of the respondents rated their families as poor, almost similar to the 50 percent obtained in a similar survey in September.a poor families in November, from 14.2 million in September.

The latest survey found that 37 percent of the respondents considered their families as “not poor,” almost similar to 38 percent in the previous poll.

Those who were “borderline poor” remained at 12 percent.

According to SWS, the country’s average self-rated poverty for 2025 was at 51 percent, lower than the 57 percent annual average in 2024.

However, it was still three points higher than the 48 percent annual average in 2022 and 2023.

Across areas, self-rated poverty was highest among respondents in Mindanao at 65 percent in November (from 69 percent in September), followed by those in the Visayas at 58 percent (from 54 percent), balance Luzon at 45 percent (from 42 percent) and Metro Manila at 37 percent (from 43 percent).

Metro Manila had the highest percentage of “not poor” families at 56 percent (from 51 percent), followed by those in the rest of Luzon at 46 percent (from 49 percent), Mindanao at 24 percent (from 20 percent) and the Visayas at 21 percent (from 23 percent).

The latest survey also found that 40 percent identified their families as “food poor” or poor based on the food they eat, almost similar to the 41 percent in the September survey. 

Those who rated their families as “not food-poor” increased from 47 percent to 49 percent, while those who considered their families as “borderline food-poor” remained at 11 percent.

Self-rated food poverty was highest among respondents in Mindanao at 55 percent (from 61 percent), followed by those in the Visayas at 45 percent (from 40 percent), balance Luzon at 34 percent (from 33 percent) and Metro Manila at 24 percent (from 35 percent).

The country’s average food-poverty rate for 2025 was 41 percent, down from 44 percent in 2024, but still higher than the 35 percent in 2023.

The SWS survey had 1,200 respondents and a margin of error of plus/minus three percent.