Majority of Filipinos are optimistic that their quality of life and the economy will improve over the next six months, according to the findings of an OCTA Research survey released on Sunday, June 11.

The “Tugon ng Masa” survey, conducted from March 24 to 28 and commissioned by Go Negosyo, found that 54 percent of adult Filipinos believe that their quality of life will improve over the next six months, 40 percent think it will remain the same, and 4 percent believe it will worsen.

“Optimism regarding the quality of life of adult Filipinos increased compared to last October 2022 from 51 percent to 54 percent. Meanwhile, pessimism decreased from 6 percent to 4 percent,” OCTA said.

The percentage of adult Filipinos who believe their quality of life will improve in the next six months was highest in the Visayas (66 percent) and lowest in Mindanao (46 percent).

Meanwhile, the percentage of adult Filipinos who think that their quality of life will worsen over the next six months was highest in Mindanao (7 percent) and lowest in Balance Luzon (2 percent).

Across regions, the percentage of adult Filipinos who are optimistic about their quality of life was highest in the Cordillera Administrative Region or CAR (83 percent) and lowest in Soccsksargen (19 percent).

In terms of socioeconomic classes, Class E has the highest percentage of adult Filipinos who believe their quality of life will improve in the next six months (58 percent) followed by Class D (54 percent), while Class ABC has the highest percentage of adult Filipinos who believe their quality of life will worsen (10 percent).

OCTA said that optimism about the quality of life was nearly the same in urban areas (55 percent) and in rural areas (53 percent), while it was higher among male (58 percent) than female (50 percent) adult Filipinos.

Trend of optimism about the quality of life of Filipinos by major areas as of March 2023 (OCTA Research)

Economic optimism at 50%

About 50 percent of adult Filipinos hope the Philippine economy will improve over the next six months, 40 percent believe it will stay the same, and 6 percent think it will worsen.

“Optimism regarding the Philippine economy among adult Filipinos increased since October 2022, from 46 percent to 50 percent. [Meanwhile,] pessimism regarding the Philippine economy among adult Filipinos decreased since October 2022 from 10 percent to 6 percent,” OCTA said.

The percentage of adult Filipinos who believe the Philippine economy will improve in the next six months was highest in the Visayas (69 percent) and lowest in Mindanao (43 percent).

“Conversely, the percentage of adult Filipinos who think the Philippine economy will worsen over the next six months ranges from 3 percent to 11 percent. The highest major area is in Mindanao (11 percent) and the lowest is in Visayas (3 percent),” OCTA said.

In terms of socioeconomic classes, Class D (51 percent) and Class E (50 percent) have the highest percentage of adult Filipinos who believe the Philippine economy will improve, while Class ABC (11 percent) has the highest percentage of adult Filipinos who believe the Philippine economy will worsen.

Meanwhile, the percentage of adult Filipinos who are optimistic about the Philippine economy over the next six months varied by region, ranging from 12 percent to 79 percent.

CAR has the highest percentage of economic optimism (79 percent), while Soccsksargen has the lowest (12 percent).

Furthermore, the proportion of adult Filipinos who are pessimistic about the Philippine economy over the next six months ranged from 0 percent to 19 percent.

Davao Region has the highest percentage (19 percent), while CAR and Cagayan have the lowest percentages (0 percent).

The survey fieldwork was conducted from March 24 to 28, 2023, using face-to-face interviews of 1,200 respondents nationwide.

survey has a +/-3 percent margin of error at a 95 percent confidence level.

Subnational estimates for the geographic areas covered in the survey have the following margins of error at a 95 percent confidence level:+/-6 percent for Metro Manila, Balance Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao.