Pulse Asia: 4 of 10 Filipinos see 2023 holiday celebration as prosperous as 2022

Forty-one percent of Filipinos believe their holiday celebration this year will be as prosperous as last year's, according to the results of a recent Pulse Asia survey released on Friday.

"For a big plurality of Filipinos (41%), their holiday celebration this year will be as prosperous as the one they had a year ago," Pulse Asia said, adding this is essentially the same as the 42% posted in November 2022.

The sentiment, Pulse Asia said, is echoed by sizeable pluralities to small majorities in Metro Manila (62%), the rest of Luzon (48%), Class D (41%), and Class E (34%).

Sixteen percent of Filipinos, however, said the holiday celebration this year will be as unprosperous as in 2022, while 13% said that it would be poorer than last year.

"Regarding holidays still not being prosperous, 20 percent from Balance Luzon and Mindanao made that claim, followed by 11 percent from NCR and seven percent from Visayas," Pulse Asia said.

New year with hope

The same survey also said an overwhelming majority of Filipinos will be face the new year with hope, 

"Amidst the various challenges Filipinos face on a daily basis, most of them continue to remain optimistic, with 92% saying they will face the new year with hope," Pulse Asia said.

"This is the prevailing sentiment in every geographic area and socio-economic grouping (84% to 95% and 90% to 92%, respectively," it added.

The survey also showed that only 1% of the respondents said they will face 2024 without hope while 7% were ambivalent on the matter. 

"These figures do not differ significantly from those recorded by Pulse Asia Research in November 2022," Pulse Asia said. 

Meanwhile, the same survey showed a 13-point decline in the percentage of Filipino adults who anticipate this year's holiday celebration to be more prosperous than the one they had a year ago, from 43 in November 2022 to 30 this month.

The same movement takes places in Metro Manila (-14 percentage points), the Visayas (-24 percentage points), Mindanao (-15 percentage points), Class D (-12 percentage points), and Class E (-19 percentage points), Pulse Asia said.

Another significant change between November 2022 and December 2023 is the drop in the percentage of Mindanawons expecting their holiday celebration this year to be as prosperous as last year (-28 percentage points), it added.

The survey was conducted from December 3 to 7, 2023 using face-to-face interviews on 1,200 adults. It has a ± 2.8% error margin at the 95% confidence level. —KBK, GMA Integrated News