Self-rated poor Filipinos rise to 63% in Dec 2024, says SWS survey

MANILA, Philippines — The number of Filipinos who see themselves as poor rose to 63 percent in December 2024, higher by four percent from the figure recorded in September of the same year, the latest Social Service Stations (SWS) survey showed.

Based on the survey results released Wednesday, 63 percent of Filipino families rated themselves as poor, 11 percent as borderline (in between poor and not poor), and 26 percent said they are not poor.

According to SWS, the December 2024 percentage of self-rated poor families is the highest it recorded since the 64 percent in November 2023.

“The estimated numbers of Self-Rated Poor families were 17.4 million in December 2024 and 16.3 million in September 2024,” the report reads.

“The percentage of respondent households rating themselves as poor was applied to the Philippine Statistics Authority medium-population projections for 2024 to arrive at the estimated numbers of Self-Rated Poor families,” it adds.

On the other hand, the number of Filipinos who placed themselves in the borderline category slightly decreased from the 13 percent recorded in September 2024 and 12 percent in June of the same year.
The report also revealed that it took a sharp decline from the 30 percent recorded in March last year.

The tally of Filipinos who rated themselves as not poor likewise decreased from the 28 percent logged in September 2024.

SWS said it conducted the survey during the fourth quarter of 2024 from December 12 to 18 using face-to-face interviews with 2,160 adults (18 years old and above) nationwide.

Of this figure, 1,080 are in Balance Luzon (or Luzon outside Metro Manila), and 360 each in Metro Manila, Visayas, and Mindanao.

READ: SWS: 46% of Filipino families felt poor in March 2024

The SWS added that sampling error margins were marked at ± 2 percent for national percentages, ±3 percent for Balance Luzon, and ±5 percent each for Metro Manila, the Visayas, and Mindanao.