In the recent quarterly national survey of Social Weather Stations (SWS), over half, or 48% of Filipinos believe that the economy will improve in the next 12 months.
The survey conducted on December 10 to 14, 2022, with a sample size of 1,200 adults, revealed that 33% believed the Philippine economy with stay the same, while only 9% said it will worsen.
The large percentage of 'Economic Optimists' resulted in a Net Economic Optimism score of +40 which was classified by SWS as 'excellent'.
This showed consistency in the past survey in 2021 in the same month which ranges from +40 to +50 Net Economic Optimism score.
Metro Manila, with +47, logged the highest Net Economic Optimism score followed by Mindanao with +45, Luzon outside Metro Manila with +40, and Visayas with +27.
The survey has seen that optimism in economic improvement was higher with those who have more years of formal education.
"It is higher among those who either graduated from college or took post-graduate studies (or college graduates) than those who either finished junior high school," the SWS said.
Meanwhile, the result also showed that 49% of adult Filipinos believe that their quality of life will improve in the next 12 months, 37% said it will stay the same, and 5% believe it will worsen.
In the latest report of the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), the Philippines' inflation rate eased in February at 8.6%, lower than the expected 8.5 to 9.3 percent of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP).
