MANILA, Philippines — Fifty-two percent or around 14.4 million Filipino families last March considered themselves poor, based on the results of the latest self-rated poverty survey of the Social Weather Stations (SWS) released on Saturday.
Self-rated poverty among Filipino families was at 63 percent in December 2024, 50 percent last January, and 51 percent last February, the SWS detailed.
Meanwhile, the survey results showed 12 percent identified themselves as being borderline, or on the line dividing poor and not poor, and 36 percent said they were not poor.
The SWS further detailed that Visayas had the highest self-rated poverty at 62 percent, followed by Mindanao with 60 percent.
Luzon, excluding Metro Manila, had self-rated poverty of 46 percent; while Metro Manila had 41 percent.
Hunger among self-rated poor rises to 35.6 percent
The pollster also noted that hunger among the self-rated poor families rose from 26.4 percent in February 2025 to 35.6 percent in March 2025.
Hunger among the non-poor also rose from 16.2 percent in February 2025 to 18.3 percent in March 2025, the SWS added.
The survey firm’s previous poll released last March 29 showed that the overall hunger rate among Filipinos was at 27.2 percent.
The self-rated poverty survey was conducted from March 15 to 20 through face-to-face interviews with 1,800 registered respondents nationwide.
The margins of error were ±2.31 percent for national percentages, ±3.27 percent for Luzon excluding Metro Manila, and ±5.66 percent each for Metro Manila, Visayas and Mindanao.
It was a non-commissioned survey.
Source: Self-rated poverty slightly rises to 52% in March 2025 – SWS
