Filipino Economic Optimism Rebounds to 'Fair' Level

Thirty-three percent of Filipinos expect the Philippine economy to improve in the next 12 months, according to a Social Weather Survey conducted from June 20 to 29. Twenty-four percent said it would get worse in the next 12 months, bringing the net economic optimism score to +10, which the Social Weather Stations (SWS) classify as "fair." Thirty-two percent said it will stay the same. "The latest Net Economic Optimism score is a 24-point rebound from the low –14 in March 2026," SWS said. SWS said the March 2026 reading was the first negative Net Economic Optimism score since face-to-face interviewing resumed in November 2020. "It was in fact the lowest since the COVID-19 pandemic disruption of mid-2020, when the score was –9 in July 2020 and –5 in September 2020, before recovering to a high +24 in November 2020," the SWS said. SWS said the net economic optimism had been on a gradual decline from the "excellent" and "very high" levels of 2021 to 2024, declining further to fair +18 in March 2025, mediocre +9 in September 2025 and +6 in November 2025, before falling into low territory in March 2026 and now rebounding to fair in June 2026. Net economic optimism differs from net personal optimism, which reflects expectations about personal quality of life, according to SWS. The survey question on expectations for the general Philippine economy in the next 12 months has been fielded 106 times since September 1998. Respondents were asked the question, "Sa darating na 12 buwan, ano sa palagay ninyo ang mangyayari sa ekonomiya ng Pilipinas? Masasabi ba ninyo na ito ay BUBUTI, KAPAREHO LANG, o SASAMA?" (Over the next 12 months, what do you think will happen to the economy of the Philippines? Would you say it WILL BE BETTER, SAME, or WILL BE WORSE?) –NB, GMA News While a cautious outlook persists among the populace, signs of short-term improvement are emerging. This could be influenced by the effectiveness of government economic policies, global economic trends, and domestic inflation rates. Remittances from overseas Filipino workers and the robust performance of the BPO sector may be supporting the domestic economy, though challenges such as rising prices and employment concerns continue to affect the lives of citizens.