Nearly half of adult Filipinos expect their quality of life to improve over the next 12 months, driving the country’s Net Personal Optimism score back to an “excellent” +40—its highest rating in a year, according to a survey released Wednesday by the Social Weather Stations (SWS).
The poll, conducted from June 20 to 29 among 1,200 adult respondents nationwide with a ±3% margin of error, revealed that 48 percent of Filipinos believe their lives will improve in the coming year, up from 38 percent in March.
Meanwhile, those expecting their quality of life to worsen dropped by half to 8 percent from 16 percent. Meanwhile, 31 percent expected no change and 12 percent did not offer an answer.
The resulting net personal optimism score of +40, calculated by subtracting pessimists from optimists, marks a significant jump from the “high” +23 recorded in March 2026. SWS noted that this is the highest score logged since June 2025, when net optimism reached +41.
The gains were broad-based across geographic regions, led by Balance Luzon at +49 (up from +22), followed by Metro Manila at +36 (from +28), the Visayas at +33 (from +27) and Mindanao at +31 (from +20). Both rural and urban areas saw sharp gains, climbing to +41 and +39, respectively, while optimism among women rose to +43 and men to +38.
The survey highlighted clear trends across age and education levels, showing that net optimism tends to decline with age. Youth aged 18 to 24 recorded the highest net optimism at +58 (up from +39), followed by 25-to-34-year-olds at +51, 35-to-44-year-olds at +38, 45-to-54-year-olds at +36, and those aged 55 and above at +17.
Across educational backgrounds, optimism surged highest among college graduates at +57 (up from +26), followed by those with some senior high school education at +46, elementary graduates at +38, junior high school graduates at +34, and non-elementary graduates at +31.