More Filipinos found themselves struggling with poverty in December 2024, according to a survey released by the Social Weather Stations (SWS) on Wednesday.

The survey revealed that 63 percent of Filipinos rated themselves “poor,” while 11 percent identified as “borderline” poor, and 26 percent considered themselves “not poor.”

This marked the highest percentage of self-rated poor families in 21 years, since the 64 percent recorded in November 2003. In comparison, only 59 percent of Filipinos self-identified as poor in September 2024, with this figure rising by four percentage points to 63 percent in December.

The SWS noted a “steady rise” in the number of people identifying as poor since June 2024, following a significant 12-point increase from 46 percent in March 2024 to 58 percent in June. This translated to 17.4 million families identifying as “poor” in December 2024, an increase of 1.1 million families from the 16.3 million recorded in September.

Meanwhile, the number of Filipinos who rated themselves as “borderline” poor dropped from 13 percent in September to 11 percent in December. The “not poor” category also saw a decline, dropping by two percentage points from 28 percent in September to 26 percent in December.

The survey was conducted from 12 to 18 December 2024 with 2,160 respondents aged 18 years and above.