Forty-five percent of Filipinos rated themselves as poor, marking a 3-percent hike from the previous report’s 45 percent, according to results of the new national survey conducted by Social Weather Stations (SWS).

SWS said that approximately 13.2 million Filipinos in September were self-rated poor families, an increase from June’s survey report by 700,000.

“Compared to June 2023, the percentage of Poor families rose by 3 points from 45 percent, while Borderline families fell by 6 points from 33 percent, and Not Poor families rose by 3 points from 22 percent,” SWS stated in its report.

The survey also noted that self-rated poor figures climbed following the rise of self-rated poor families nationwide, especially in Mindanao. Only Balance Luzon (or areas of Luzon outside Metro Manila) noticed a decline.

More Filipinos plunge into poverty

According to the survey, 6.6 percent of Filipino families considered themselves “newly poor,” amounting to nearly 1.8 million Filipinos.

“The total percentage of poor families consists of 6.6 percent who were non-poor 1-4 years ago (“Newly Poor”), 6.1 percent who were non-poor five or more years ago (“Usually Poor”), and 35.3 percent who never experienced being non-poor (“Always Poor”),” SWS stated in its report.

“Of the estimated 13.2 million Self-Rated Poor families in September 2023, 1.8 million were Newly Poor, 1.7 million were Usually Poor, and 9.7 million were Always Poor,” it added.

The non-commissioned survey was conducted from September 28 to October 1, 2023, using in-person interviews to 1,200 adults nationwide.