35% say life improved, 23% worsened in past year

MANILA, Philippines — The quality of life for most Filipinos stayed the same over the past year, with a recent Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey showing that only one in three experienced a better quality of life.

The survey, conducted from June 25 to 29, found 42 percent of respondents saying their quality of life stayed the same in the past 12 months.

Thirty-five percent said it improved, almost similar to the 34 percent in the last week of April, while 23 percent said it worsened, down from 29 percent.

While respondents who said their lives improved remained almost the same, the lower percentage of Filipinos who experienced worse conditions resulted in the highest “net gainers” score since the +13 in December 2024.

The “net gainers” score is the rounded off difference of those who said their lives improved from those who said their lives worsened.

It went to as low as -1 in the first half of April, before reaching -5 in the second half of April to +12 in the latest survey.

Across areas, the “net gainers” score was highest among those in the Visayas at +22 (from zero), followed by those in Mindanao at +16 (from -3), Metro Manila at +10 (from -1) and rest of Luzon at +6 (from +12).

The survey had 1,200 respondents and a margin of error of plus/minus three percent.