Ninety-five percent of Filipinos will be welcoming 2023 “with hope rather than fear,” according to the Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey results released on Friday, Dec. 30.

“This is two points above the 93 percent recorded in 2021 and similar to the pre-Covid 96 percent in 2019,” SWS said in a statement.

The nationwide survey, which was conducted from Dec. 10 to 14 with 1,200 respondents, found that only 5 percent of Filipinos will enter the new year with fear—down by two points from 7 percent in 2020 and 2021.

“Compared to the end of 2021, hope for the coming new year rose from 93 percent to 97 percent in Balance Luzon, and from 90 percent to 95 percent in the Visayas,” SWS said.

“It fell slightly from 95 percent to 93 percent in Metro Manila, while it stayed at 93 percent in Mindanao,” it added.

74% of Filipinos to change themselves for the better

The survey also found that 74 percent of Filipinos said they would change to better themselves in the coming year, while 20 percent said they would not change anything.

The remaining 6 percent did not give an answer.

“Of those planning to change for the better in 2023, 31 percent mentioned resolutions related to health, such as improving overall health (9 percent), stopping/lessening drinking (7 percent), having a healthier diet (4 percent), stopping/lessening unhealthy vices (4 percent), stopping/lessening smoking (3 percent), exercising/being more active (1 percent), having a healthier lifestyle (1 percent), and recovering from illness (1 percent),” SWS said.

“Two percent gave other health-related personal changes, such as weight management, sufficient sleep, and physical checkups,” it pointed out.

Meanwhile, 27 percent plan to focus on social and attitudinal wellness, such as having more patience (3 percent), stopping bad behaviors/habits (3 percent), improving self in general (3 percent), improving behavior/attitude (2 percent), avoiding stress (1 percent), improving family relations (1 percent), and being happy (1 percent), among others (industriousness, studies, kindness, self-confidence, better family life, stronger faith, etc.).

Sixteen percent plan to focus on their finances, such as finding a job/starting a livelihood (5 percent), working harder (5 percent), saving money (3 percent), and not borrowing money anymore (1 percent), among others (spending habits, payment of debts, earning more wealth, etc.).

The remaining 2 percent gave other responses.