SWS: Filipinos’ well-being hits record low

A national well-being indicator that tracks how Filipinos perceive their own lives fell to a record low in a recent Social Weather Stations survey, drawing attention to household sentiment as economic pressures linger.

The December 2025 Anamnestic Comparative Self Assessment (ACSA) score—a measure of personal well-being on a scale of from –5 to +5 based on an individual’s own best and worst life experiences—fell to +1.72 in a 24 to 30 November survey, the lowest since the survey began.

The score dipped below the previous pandemic low of +1.97 recorded in May 2021.

Only 73 percent of adult Filipinos rated their current life positively, down from 79 percent a year earlier, while those with a negative assessment rose from 20 percent to 25 percent.

The ACSA scale asks respondents to rate their recent two weeks on a range of from –5 (“as bad as the worst period in your life”) to +5 (“as good as the best period in your life”).

Related morale indicators also showed mixed sentiments: 33 percent of adults described themselves as “very happy,” and 28 percent as “very satisfied” with life.

The survey found that well-being scores varied on the experience of hunger. Households reporting no involuntary hunger in the past three months scored higher on the ACSA, while those experiencing hunger scored significantly lower.

Geographically, the highest well-being scores were recorded in Balance Luzon (+2.08), followed by Metro Manila (+1.63), the Visayas (+1.47), and Mindanao (+1.29).

Scores also tended to rise with education level, from +1.42 among those without elementary education to +2.40 among college graduates.

SWS conducted face to face interviews with 1,200 adults nationwide for the fourth quarter survey, with sampling errors of plus or minus three percent nationally.

Analysts said the decline in subjective well-being may reflect the ongoing economic challenges, including rising costs and persistent inequality, even as headline indicators such as GDP growth showed improvement.

Policymakers may look to such sentiment data to better understand the lived experience of ordinary Filipinos and tailor social support programs accordingly. -30-