FILIPINO consumers have become less confident during the fourth quarter of 2025 amid graft and corruption concerns and unfavorable weather conditions, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) reported on Friday.
The overall consumer confidence index (CI) turned more pessimistic as it fell to -22.2 percent, down from -9.8 percent in the third quarter. This means that more respondents had a negative outlook in the latest Consumer Expectations Survey (CES) of 5,489 households.
The BSP said the decline in public confidence was also due to higher inflation, lower household income and natural calamities that affected Filipino consumers.
Looking ahead, local consumer sentiment are also seen to fall to 3.6 percent in the first quarter of 2026 and 11.8 percent over the next 12 months. These were both comparatively lower than the 6.9 percent and 14.1 percent outlook in the third quarter.
However, the BSP noted that the projected sentiment remained positive at its current levels, which reflected a “favorable outlook in the near term.”
Consumers also expect inflation to stay within the government’s target range over the next 12 months amid well-anchored household inflation expectations. When materialized, this could help support investments and job creation in the country, the BSP said.
