Conducted from March 24 to 28, 2023, the survey found that 50% of respondents across the country think the economy will be better than the present, higher than the 46% recorded in October 2022.
The highest optimism was recorded in the Visayas with 69%, followed by balance Luzon with 47%, the National Capital Region (NCR) with 46%, and Mindanao with 43%.
In terms of socioeconomic classes, the highest optimism was seen in Class D with 51%, followed by Class E with 50%, and Class ABC with 44%.
Geographically, the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) posted the highest percentage with 79%, while the lowest was recorded in Soccsksargen with 12%.
Some 6% of respondents said they think the economy will be worse than the present in the next six months, down from the 10% percentage of pessimists in the previous survey conducted in October 2022.
The biggest percentage of pessimists was seen in Mindanao with 11%, followed by NCR with 7%, balance Luzon with 5%, and the Visayas with 3%.
Socioeconomically, the highest percentage of pessimists was in Class ABC with 11%, backed by Class E with 8%, and Class D with 5%.
The Davao Region had the highest percentage of pessimists with 19%, while the lowest was seen in CAR and Region II (Cagayan Valley) with zero percent.
Results also showed that 40% of respondents thought that there would be no changes in the next six months, while 4% were neither optimistic nor pessimistic.
The survey focused on the views of adult Filipinos regarding their quality of life and the economy, as commissioned by Go Negosyo. It has a ±3% margin of error at a 95% confidence level.
Just last week the inter-agency Development Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC) maintained its economic growth projection at 6.0% to 7.0% for 2022, and from 6.5% to 8.0% from 2024 to 2028.
The economy expanded by 6.4% in the first quarter of the year, slower than the 8.0% growth in the first quarter of 2022, and the downward revised 7.1% in the fourth quarter of the previous year.
