MANILA — Self-rated poverty across the Philippines surged in the third quarter, with an estimated 16.8 million families considering themselves poor in September following a jump in nationwide hardship figures.
Based on the latest survey by the Social Weather Stations (SWS) conducted from September 21 to 27 and released on Tuesday, October 13, the country’s self-rated poverty incidence climbed by six percentage points to 55% from 49% in June. This increase pushed the number of families identifying as poor up from 13.6 million, marking the highest level recorded since December 2024.
SWS noted that the spike in poverty was largely drawn from the borderline category.
“The rise came mainly at the expense of the Borderline (those who placed themselves on the line dividing the Poor and the Not Poor), which fell by five points from 14 percent to 9 percent, while the Self-Rated Not Poor, or those rating themselves as Hindi Mahirap or Not Poor, hardly moved from 37 percent to 36 percent,” SWS reported.
Breakdown of Poverty Experience
The survey further categorized families based on how long they had experienced poverty. Out of the 16.8 million self-rated poor families, 38.7% or approximately 11.7 million were classified as “always poor” for never having experienced being non-poor. Meanwhile, 9% (about 2.7 million families) were deemed “usually poor,” and 7.2% (about 2.2 million families) were considered “newly poor” after being non-poor within the last one to four years.
Conversely, the estimated 13.6 million non-poor families comprised 3.8 million newly non-poor, 5 million usually non-poor, and 4.6 million always non-poor households.
Regional Increases
All major geographical areas registered increases in self-rated poverty, spearheaded by Balance Luzon, which saw a 10-point jump from 41% to 51%. Metro Manila and the Visayas both posted four-point increases to 44% and 63%, respectively, while Mindanao recorded a three-point rise, bringing its rate to 64%.
Rise in Food Poverty
Parallel to overall poverty, self-rated food poverty also experienced a notable surge. The proportion of families rating themselves as food-poor rose by eight points, jumping from 36% in June to 44% in September.
“The September 2026 survey found Self-Rated Food Poverty (SRFP) rising by eight points, from 36 percent in June 2026 to 44 percent in September 2026,” SWS stated, translating to roughly 13.3 million Filipino families grappling with food poverty during the period.
The nationwide face-to-face survey utilized 1,500 adult respondents and carried a margin of error of plus-minus three percentage points for national figures.