ABOUT 63 percent of Filipino families rated themselves as “poor” in December 2024, the highest level since 64 percent in November 2003, according to the Social Weather Survey (SWS) on Wednesday.
This marked a four-point increase from 59 percent in September 2024, with an estimated 17.4 million families self-identifying as poor, up from 16.3 million in September.
The Self-Rated Poverty data also showed a rise for the third consecutive quarter last year, following a 12-point jump from March to June 2024. The annual average for 2024 was 57 percent, nine points higher than the 48 percent recorded in 2023 and 2022.
Borderline families, who consider themselves between poor and not poor, dropped to 11 percent, a slight decrease from 13 percent in September and 12 percent in June 2024, following a sharp decline from 30 percent in March.
Meanwhile, 26 percent of families did not consider themselves poor, down from 28 percent in September and 30 percent in June.
Self-Rated Poverty was highest in Mindanao at 76 percent, followed by the Visayas at 74 percent, Balance Luzon at 55 percent, and Metro Manila at 51 percent.
In Mindanao, 9 percent were borderline, while 15 percent felt financially secure. Meanwhile, in Visayas, 15 percent were near-poor, and 11 percent considered themselves financially stable.
The Balance Luzon showed that 11 percent were borderline, while 34 percent felt financially comfortable. In Metro Manila, on the other hand, 9 percent were vulnerable to poverty and 40 percent were financially well-off.
Food poverty
Regarding food poverty, 51 percent of families rated themselves as food-poor, 13 percent as food-borderline, and 36 percent as not food-poor.
The 51-percent mark was the highest in over 20 years and a five-point increase from 46 percent in September.
Self-Rated Food Poverty was highest in Mindanao at 68 percent, followed by the Visayas at 61 percent, Balance Luzon at 42 percent, and Metro Manila at 39 percent.
The survey also found that 10.2 percent of families who considered themselves poor were non-poor one to four years ago, while 7.6 percent were non-poor five or more years ago. About 44.7 percent, however, have never experienced being non-poor.
The median monthly family expenses were P3,000 for house rent, P2,000 for transportation, P1,000 for internet, and P300 for mobile phone load.
The survey was conducted from December 12 to 18 with 2,160 adults nationwide, using face-to-face interviews, and had sampling error margins of ±2 percent nationally, ±3 percent in Balance Luzon, and ±5 percent in Metro Manila, the Visayas and Mindanao.
