Social Weather Survey (SWS) said in a survey done April 23 to 28 and released on Saturday that 50 percent of families say they are self-rated poor. This is five percentage points lower than the 55 percent on April 11 to 15.

The 55 percent was first reported on April 1983 by the Development Academy of the Philippines, SWS said in its April 11 to 15 survey.

The latest figures translate to around 14.1 million families self-rated poor families from 15.5 million on the initial survey in April.

The number of families under Not Poor rose by 10 percentage points from 32 percent "to a new record-high" of 42 percent while eight percent considered themselves as borderline or being neither poor nor not poor.

The non-commissioned survey, which used face-to-face interviews, had 1,500 respondents nationwide.

"The 5-point decrease in the nationwide Self-Rated Poverty between April 11-15, 2025 and April 23-28, 2025 was due to declines in Metro Manila and Mindanao, combined with steady scores in Balance Luzon (or Luzon outside Metro Manila) and the Visayas", SWS said.

"Self-Rated Poverty was highest in the Visayas at 67 percent, followed by Mindanao at 61 percent, Balance Luzon at 43 percent, and Metro Manila at 33 percent", it added. Marie Manalili/DMS