NET optimism about the country’s economy in the next 12 months was statistically unchanged in the last quarter of 2022 at +40, the December 10 to 14 survey of the Social Weather Stations (SWS) shows.
The survey, which involved 1,200 adult respondents nationwide with a sampling error of ±2.8 percent, showed that 48 percent of Filipinos are optimistic the economy will improve in the next 12 months, down from 50 percent in October, while 9 percent said it will get worse (unchanged).
It also found that 33 percent (up from 30 percent) said it will not change and 10 percent (from 11 percent) said they do not know.
This resulted in a net optimist score (percent of optimist minus percent of pessimist) of +40 in December from +41 in October, both classified by SWS as “excellent.”
SWS classified Net Economic Optimism scores of +40 and above as “Excellent; between +30 and +39 as “Very High;” between +20 and +29 as “High;” between +10 and +19 as “Fair; between —9 and +9 as “Mediocre;” between —19 and —10 as “Low;” between —29 and —20 as “Very Low;” between —30 and —39 as “Extremely Low;” and—40 and below as “Execrable.
It also considers a movement from one classification to another as either an upgrade or downgrade.
SWS said economic optimists were highest in the National Capital Region (NCR) with +47 (down from +53), followed by those from Mindanao with +45 (up for +32), Luzon with +40 (down from +49), and Visayas with 27(up from +25).
Optimism about the economy were also the highest among college graduates with +51 (up from +49), followed junior high school graduates with + 40 (down from +42), no formal education or had some elementary education with +37 (up from +33) and elementary graduates with +35 (down from +40).
