SWS: Just 1 in 3 Filipinos ‘very happy’ in life, but 50% ‘fairly happy’
Only 33 percent of Filipinos said they are “very happy” with their life, Social Weather Stations (SWS) showed on Thursday, a day before the celebration of the International Day of Happiness on March 20.
The latest SWS survey also said that 50 percent of Filipinos are “fairly happy” with life, while 15 percent are “not very happy,” and 2 percent are “not at all happy.”
Conducted in November 2025, 1,200 Filipinos aged 18 and above responded to the survey through face-to-face interviews, with 300 respondents each from Metro Manila, Balance Luzon (Luzon outside Metro Manila), the Visayas and Mindanao.
According to SWS, the 33-percent “very happy” response in November was “similar to 31 percent in March 2025 and 34 percent in December 2024, but it was 10 points below 43 percent in December 2023.”
The 50 percent who were “fairly happy” were three points below 53 percent in March 2025 and similar to 48 percent in December 2024.
‘Happiest’ in Visayas
On the other hand, the 15 percent of Filipinos who were “not very happy” was comparable to the 13 percent recorded in March 2025 and the 15 percent in December 2024, but it was six points higher than the 9 percent recorded in December 2023.
The 2 percent who responded that they are not at all happy with life were close to the 3 percent in March 2025 and 4 percent in December 2024.
The SWS reported that the percentage of “very happy” respondents was highest in the Visayas at 40 percent, an increase from 36 percent in March 2025.
This was followed by Mindanao at 34 percent and Balance Luzon at 32 percent.
In Metro Manila, 24 percent said they were “very happy”—down from the 28 percent rate in March last year.
28% ‘very satisfied’ with life
SWS also surveyed the “satisfaction” of Filipinos in life, where it showed that only 28 percent responded that they are “very satisfied” with their way of living.
SWS noted that the highest percentage of “very satisfied” responses, at 35 percent, was in the Visayas.
It was followed by Metro Manila at 27 percent, Balance Luzon at 27 percent and lastly Mindanao at 25 percent.
On the other hand, 51 percent of the Filipinos said that they are “fairly satisfied” with life, 14 percent are “not very satisfied” and 7 percent are “not at all satisfied.”
The survey had sampling error margins of ±3 percent for national percentages and ±6 percent each for Metro Manila, Balance Luzon, the Visayas and Mindanao.
