August 13, 2025 | 12:00am
MANILA, Philippines — An estimated 11.9 million Filipino households think about themselves poor, in response to the most recent survey by the OCTA Analysis group.
Carried out from July 12 to 17, the survey discovered that the nation’s self-rated poverty rose to 45 p.c, up from 42 p.c in April.
Solely 16 p.c of respondents stated their households weren’t poor, down from 18 p.c, whereas 39 p.c had been undecided, in comparison with 40 p.c within the earlier survey.
OCTA stated the three-point enhance in self-rated poverty interprets to 800,000 extra poor households, from 11.1 million in April to 11.9 million in July. Nationwide self-rated poverty ranges have remained broadly secure, however excessive charges persist in Mindanao.
In Mindanao, 63 p.c of respondents thought of their households poor, up from 61 p.c in April. This was adopted by 59 p.c within the Visayas (from 60 p.c), 37 p.c in steadiness Luzon (from 29 p.c) and 23 p.c in Metro Manila (from 28 p.c).
43% meals poverty
The identical survey additionally confirmed that self-rated meals poverty – outlined as conditions the place people and households battle to safe a ample and nutritious diet – rose sharply from 35 p.c in April to 43 p.c in July.
“The sharp rise in meals poverty regardless of secure general poverty means that extra households are struggling to afford meals, rising stress on family budgets,” OCTA stated.
“Many should still have housing and primary property, however are decreasing the standard or amount of their meals to manage financially. Such tendencies may result in well being and vitamin challenges not but mirrored in broader poverty statistics,” it added.
Solely 18 p.c stated their households weren’t meals poor, down from 21 p.c, whereas 39 p.c had been undecided, down from 43 p.c.
Regardless of this, the general starvation charge, or the proportion of households that skilled not having meals to eat not less than as soon as previously three months, remained at 13 p.c.
Mindanao recorded a pointy drop in starvation incidence, from 23 p.c in April to only 4 p.c in July.
In distinction, starvation charges elevated in different areas: 20 p.c within the Visayas (from 15 p.c), and 13 p.c in each Metro Manila and the remainder of Luzon (from 11 p.c and 7 p.c, respectively).
The survey had 1,200 respondents and a margin of error of plus/minus three p.c.