Despite a record-high 36 percent of Filipino families considering themselves “not poor” — the highest figure since Social Weather Stations (SWS) began tracking in 1983 — more than 14.4 million families still identified as poor as of March 2025, according to the latest Stratbase-SWS national survey.

The proportion of Self-Rated Poor (SRP) families slightly rose to 52 percent, up one percentage point from 51 percent in February 2025.

Conducted from 15 to 20 March, the face-to-face survey sampled 1,800 registered voters nationwide. When applied to Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) medium-population projections, the SRP rate translates to roughly 14.4 million Filipino families rating themselves as poor — a marginal increase from 14.3 million in February.

Persistent poverty

While the 36 percent “not poor” figure marks a historic milestone, poverty remains widespread, particularly in the provinces.

Self-Rated Poverty was highest in the Visayas (62 percent) and Mindanao (60 percent), followed by Balance Luzon (46 percent) and Metro Manila (41 percent).

Compared to February, SRP rose by five points in the Visayas and three points in Balance Luzon. It dropped by five points in both Mindanao and Metro Manila.

Meanwhile, families identifying as Borderline Poor — those on the dividing line between poor and not poor — accounted for 12 percent, down slightly from 13 percent in February.

Hunger rises

Involuntary hunger surged among Self-Rated Poor families during the same period. According to the survey, 27.2 percent of Filipino households experienced hunger at least once in the past three months. Among Self-Rated Poor households, that number jumped to 35.6 percent, up sharply from 26.4 percent in February.

In contrast, hunger among the Non-Poor — which includes both Borderline and Not Poor categories — rose only slightly, from 16.2 percent to 18.3 percent.