50% of Filipino families rate themselves as poor in latest SWS survey

Half of Filipino families, or 50%, consider themselves poor, a slight increase from 49% in June 2025, according to a recent Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey.

This translates to approximately 14.2 million families, an increase of 500,000 from the previous survey.

The rise in self-rated poverty was attributed to increases in Metro Manila and Luzon outside Metro Manila, despite decreases in the Visayas and a steady percentage in Mindanao.

Among those who identify as poor, 36% have always been poor, 8.7% were usually poor, and 5.7% were newly poor.

The percentage of borderline families also rose to 12%, up from 10% in June 2025.

Conversely, the proportion of families who consider themselves not poor decreased to 38% from 41% in June 2025.

Regarding food poverty, 41% of families rated themselves as food-poor, while 47% considered themselves not food-poor.

A political science professor noted that inflation, debt, and job insecurity have eroded purchasing power, making economic growth an abstraction rather than a shared reality for many Filipinos.