SWS: Filipinos remain hopeful for 2025, but fear creeping in

Agence France-Presse file photo

MANILA, Philippines — Most Filipinos remained hopeful for the New Year, but fear has begun to creep in, according to the results of the latest Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey released on Friday.

The survey, however, also revealed this year’s hope rating is the lowest recorded since 2009, while the fear rating reached its highest level during the same period.

Conducted from Dec. 12 to Dec. 18, 2024, SWS showed that 90 percent of adult Filipinos said they are entering the New Year with hope, a decrease from the 96 percent recorded in 2023 and the lowest since the 89 percent recorded in 2009.

READ: A ‘happy’ Christmas 2024? Fewer Filipinos expect it – SWS survey

The remaining 10 percent of Filipinos said they are entering the New Year with “fear,” up seven points from 3 percent in 2023 and the highest since the 11 percent recorded in 2009.

According to SWS, hope for the New Year was 87 percent when first surveyed at the end of 2000. The percentage remained in the 80s at the end of 2001, 2004, 2005, and 2009. The percentage reached the 90s at the end of 2002, 2003, 2006 to 2008, and 2010 to 2024.

Most hopeful

Hope for the coming New Year was highest in Luzon outside of Metro Manila at 92 percent, followed by Metro Manila at 91 percent, Mindanao at 89 percent, and Visayas at 87 percent. Compared to the end of 2023, hope fell slightly in all areas.

Hope is highest among college graduates at 96 percent, followed by those with some senior high school education at 93 percent, junior high school graduates at 91 percent, elementary graduates at 89 percent, and non-elementary graduates at 83 percent. Compared to the end of 2023, hope also fell in all educational levels.

The survey also found that 65 percent of adult Filipinos expected this year’s Christmas to be happy, while 10 percent expected it to be sad, and 26 percent neither happy nor sad.

Happy Christmas

The percentage of those entering the New Year with hope rather than fear is higher among those who expected a happy Christmas (94 percent) than those who expected neither a happy nor sad Christmas (87 percent) and those who expected a sad Christmas (74 percent).

The SWS survey used in-person interviews among 2,160 adults and had a margin of error of plus-or-minus 2 percent for national percentages, plus-or-minus 3 percent for Luzon outside Metro Manila, and plus-or-minus 5 percent each for Metro Manila, Visayas, and Mindanao. —Jecko Sanjorjo, Inquirer Research