Half of Filipinos still poor — SWS

Fifty percent of Filipinos consider themselves poor, while the other half say they are not, according to a recent Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey.

This comes amid the low inflation rate recorded by the Philippine Statistics Authority—1.3 percent in May 2025, down from 1.4 percent the previous month. This is the lowest inflation rate since November 2019, bringing the average inflation rate from January to May 2025 to 1.9 percent.

According to the latest SWS survey conducted from 23 to 28 April, 50 percent of Filipino families surveyed said they are poor, 8 percent rated themselves as borderline (or on the line dividing poor and not poor), while 42 percent rated themselves as not poor.

The number of Filipinos feeling impoverished was five points lower than the 55 percent recorded in the 11 to 15 April survey, showing improvement following three consecutive months of slow but steady increases.

The estimated numbers of self-rated poor families were 14.1 million from 23 to 28 April, and 15.5 million from 11 to 15 April.

“The percentage of respondent households rating themselves as poor was applied to the Philippine Statistics Authority medium-population projections for 2025 to arrive at the estimated numbers of self-rated poor families,” the SWS survey showed.

The percentage of not poor families rose by 10 points, from 32 percent in the 11 to 15 April survey to a new record high of 42 percent from 23 to 28 April survey, surpassing the previous record of 36 percent in March 2025.

Self-rated poverty falls in Metro Manila and Mindanao

“The 5-point decrease in the nationwide Self-Rated Poverty between April 11–15, 2025, and April 23–28, 2025, was due to declines in Metro Manila and Mindanao, combined with steady scores in Balance Luzon (or Luzon outside Metro Manila) and the Visayas,” the survey said.

As of 23 to 28 April, Self-Rated Poverty was highest in the Visayas at 67 percent, followed by Mindanao at 61 percent, Balance Luzon at 43 percent, and Metro Manila at 33 percent.

Compared to 11 to 15 April, Self-Rated Poverty fell by 12 points from 45 percent in Metro Manila and by 9 points from 70 percent in Mindanao. However, it hardly moved from 44 percent in Balance Luzon, while it stayed at 67 percent in the Visayas.

On the other hand, the percentage of borderline families declined in all areas: it fell from 10 percent to 6 percent in Metro Manila, 12 percent to 6 percent in Balance Luzon, 12 percent to 9 percent in the Visayas, and from 14 to 10 percent in Mindanao.

At the same time, the percentage of not poor families increased in all areas: it rose by 15 points from 45 percent to 60 percent in Metro Manila, 7 points from 44 percent to 51 percent in Balance Luzon, 3 points from 21 percent to 24 percent in the Visayas, and 13 points from 16 to 29 percent in Mindanao.

Self-rated food poverty

On Self-Rated Food Poverty—based on the type of food eaten by their families—the 23 to 28 April survey, 2025 survey found that 41 percent of families rated themselves as food-poor, 7 percent as food borderline (placing themselves on the line dividing food-poor and not food-poor), and 51 percent as not food-poor.

The national median Self-Rated Poverty Threshold (SRP Threshold) stayed at P10,000 from December 2024 to April 2025, following a two-quarter decline from P15,000 in June 2024 and P12,000 in September 2024.

On the other hand, the national median Self-Rated Poverty Gap (SRP Gap) stayed at P5,000 from September 2024 to April 2025.

In Metro Manila, the median SRP Threshold remained at P20,000 from December 2024 to April 2025, while the median SRP Gap rose from P7,000 to P10,000.

‘Newly Poor’

The 23 to 28 April survey asked self-rated poor families if they had ever experienced being non-poor (either not poor or borderline) in the past. The total percentage of poor families consists of 7.7 percent who were non-poor 1–4 years ago (“Newly Poor”), 8.3 percent who were non-poor five or more years ago (“Usually Poor”), and 34.0 percent who never experienced being non-poor (“Always Poor”).

Of the estimated 14.1 million self-rated poor families on 23 to 28 April, 2025, 2.2 million were newly poor, 2.3 million were usually poor, and 9.5 million were always poor.