The number of Filipino families that considered themselves poor in March declined slightly from December last year on the back of slightly less self-rated poor families in Mindanao and Metro Manila, Social Weather Stations (SWS) said on Thursday.

The SWS poll conducted last March had 46 percent or 12.9 million Filipino families rating themselves poor, a slight decline from the 13.0 million in December 2023.

“Compared to December 2023, the percentage of poor families hardly changed from 47 percent,” SWS said.

SWS said self-rated poverty was reported highest in the Visayas at 64 percent in March from 58 percent, followed by Mindanao at 56 percent from 61 percent, both in December.

In Balance Luzon — or areas outside Metro Manila – self-rated poverty was at 38 percent in March from 39 percent in December.

Metro Manila, on the other hand, reported the lowest rate at 33 percent in March from 37 percent last December.

Additionally, 30 percent of families considered themselves borderline poor, and 23 percent identified as not poor.

According to the survey, 33 percent of families classified themselves as “food poor” based on their dietary consumption, a figure that has remained nearly unchanged since December.

Some 36 percent said they were almost running out of food, while 41 percent said they were not.

SWS highlighted an increase in self-rated food poverty in both the Visayas and Metro Manila.

The national average threshold for self-rated food poverty has been P8,000 over the last five quarters, and the national median self-rated food poverty gap has been P3,000 over the previous 10 quarters.

SWS conducted face-to-face interviews in the first quarter of 2024 of 1,500 adults nationwide. The survey’s margin of error is ±2.5 percent for national percentages, ±4.0 percent for Balance Luzon, and ±5.7 percent each for Metro Manila, the Visayas and Mindanao.