Fifty-one percent of Filipinos hope that the Philippine economy will improve, while 7 percent see it worsening in the next 12 months, according to the Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey results released on Wednesday, April 6.
The Fourth Quarter 2021 SWS survey, which was conducted from Dec. 12 to 16, used face-to-face interviews of 1,440 Filipino adults nationwide.
The survey results showed that 51 percent of the respondents believe that the Philippine economy will improve, 30 percent said it will stay the same, and 7 percent think it will worsen.
This resulted in a net economic optimism score of +44 (percentage of optimists minus percentage of pessimists), which is classified by SWS as “excellent.”
SWS used the term “optimists” for those who believe the Philippine economy will improve, “pessimists” for those who think it will worsen, and “no change” for those who said it will stay the same.
“The December 2021 net economic optimism was a continuing recovery from the mediocre -9 in July 2020, mediocre -5 in September 2020, and high +24 in November 2020. This is the highest since the excellent +44 in September 2016,” SWS said in a statement.
Net economic optimism is highest in Balance Luzon (+52), followed by Metro Manila (+47), Mindanao (+46), and the Visayas (+19).
SWS attributed the 20-point rise in the national net economic optimism score between November 2020 and December 2021 to the increases in all areas, especially in Balance Luzon.
Compared to November 2020, it said that net economic optimism rose from high to excellent in Balance Luzon, up by 28 points from +24 to +52.
It rose from very high to excellent in Metro Manila, up by 16 points from +31 to +47, from very high to excellent in Mindanao, up by 10 points from +36 to +46; and from mediocre to fair in the Visayas, up by 15 points from +4 to +19.