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MANILA, Philippines — Fewer Filipino families identified themselves as poor by the end of 2025, but a growing number of households also said they were unsure about their economic standing.
According to OCTA Research’s latest poll, the share of families who rated themselves as poor dropped to 37%, falling by 17 percentage points from the previous quarter — the largest drop the firm has seen in just a span of three months.
The decline means roughly 4.5 million families no longer see themselves as poor, bringing the total to less than 10 million by December 2025.
The report, released on Tuesday, January 20, said the latest results marked a “clear break” from the usual trend, citing both the scale and speed of the shift.
While fewer respondents consider themselves poor, a growing number of people also reported being uncertain about their poverty status, and more say they are not poor at all.
This finding shows that about two out of 10 households say they are not poor (22%), four are unsure (41%), and nearly four feel they are poor (37%).
Unlike official statistics, however, self-rated poverty indicates that more Filipino families consider themselves poor compared to the 15.5% reported by the Philippine Statistics Authority in 2023.
Self-rated poverty in the regions
By region, the largest decreases in self-rated poverty were recorded in Metro Manila, Balance Luzon and the Visayas, with the Visayas seeing the sharpest fall of 28 percentage points.
Interestingly, in Metro Manila, fewer respondents classified themselves as either poor or not poor, with more reporting uncertainty about whether their earnings were enough to meet decent living conditions.
According to OCTA Research, the latest findings may have been affected by “improved income conditions, employment stability, or easing cost pressures” that households experienced in the fourth quarter of 2025.
Mindanao, however, continued its yearlong trend of rising self-rated poverty, with the figure increasing by 4 percentage points. This puts the region close to seven in 10 respondents who consider themselves poor.
Despite the overall improvement, the survey still found high poverty rates in certain regions and among lower-income groups. OCTA Research said this suggests that even households that have crossed the poverty line may still remain close to it.
“The divergence highlights how national-level improvements may coexist with localized setbacks, especially in historically disadvantaged areas,” the report read.
Food poverty
Self-rated food poverty also saw a major improvement in the final quarter of 2025, with about 5 million families who once felt they couldn’t meet their food needs now saying they can.
This means the share of respondents who considered themselves food poor dropped from 49% in September 2025 to 30% in December, representing roughly 7.9 million families who struggle to sustain a healthy diet.
“The faster and larger improvement in food poverty relative to overall poverty suggests that households may have experienced immediate gains in food access or affordability,” OCTA Research said.
The pattern is similar to overall self-rated poverty: more people said they were not food-poor or were unsure about their status, while fewer identified themselves as food-poor.
The trend was also the same across regions, with the Visayas recording the largest improvement and Mindanao experiencing a further increase in self-rated food poverty.
However, the poll firm found that short-term economic conditions may help explain why more households now say they are no longer food-poor.
How much is needed not to be food-poor? In the latest survey, the largest share who still saw themselves as food-poor said that spending P10,000 a month for their family would place them above the food poverty line.
This, however, is a drop from the median P15,000 monthly expense that respondents who identified themselves as food-poor reported in the previous quarter.
Only 12% of respondents who said they are food-poor reported that being able to spend P20,000 a month would lift them out of food poverty, while another 12% said P15,000, and 14% said P5,000.
When asked how much they still lack, nearly three in 10 respondents who consider themselves food-poor said P5,000, while 15% said P3,000 and 13% said P2,000.
“While national improvements were historically large, localized increases highlight the importance of stabilizing food prices and ensuring consistent access, especially for vulnerable populations,” OCTA Research said.
Self-rated hunger
Although self-rated food poverty declined, self-rated hunger rose to 16% in the fourth quarter of 2025.
This means 1.3 million more families reported going without food at least once in the three months before the survey, up from 2.9 million in the previous quarter.
However, roughly 78% of those who experienced hunger said that it happened just once or a few times, rather than on a regular or continuous basis.
Unlike self-rated poverty and food poverty, involuntary hunger showed the opposite trend across regions, with the highest rates reported in Metro Manila and the Visayas at 22%, compared with 19% in Mindanao.
OCTA Research attributed this to short-term factors like timing gaps in income, price changes, weather disturbances, or local access issues that may have led to temporary hunger despite overall improvement in their perception of poverty and food security.
The poll firm’s “Tugon ng Masa” survey was conducted from Dec. 3 to 11, 2025, interviewing 1,200 Filipino adults nationwide. It has a 95% confidence level and a ±3% margin of error.
