Manila: The consumer sentiment improved in the second half of the year and the next 12 months, but businesses were less optimistic about the economy, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said.
According to Philippines News Agency, results of the latest Consumer Expectations Survey (CES) released Friday showed that Filipino consumers were less pessimistic in the third quarter of the year due to new income sources, higher earnings, and more working family members. The overall consumer confidence index (CI) improved to -9.8 percent in the third quarter of 2025 from -14 percent in the second quarter. The CES is a quarterly survey of a random sample of about 5,000 households in the Philippines. It has three component indices of the consumer outlook, which include overall economic condition, family financial situation, and family income.
Survey results showed that consumer outlook for both the next quarter and the next 12 months also improved, reflecting stronger consumer confidence in the near term. The more upbeat outlook was attributed to expectations of higher income, additional earnings, more job openings, and stable prices of goods and services. Consumers also expect inflation over the next 12 months to stay within the National Government's target range, indicating well-anchored household inflation expectations. The BSP said within target inflation supports investments and job creation.
Results of the latest Business Expectations Survey (BES), meanwhile, showed that businesses were less optimistic about the economy in the third quarter of the year. The overall business confidence index (CI) declined from 28.8 percent in the second quarter of 2025 to 23.2 percent in the third quarter. Slack in demand during the 'ghost month', the onset of the rainy and typhoon season, global headwinds such as higher US tariffs, geopolitical tensions, and weaker foreign demand, weighed on business confidence.
The BES is a quarterly survey of firms drawn at random from the list of top 7,000 corporations ranked based on total assets in 2017 from the Bureau van Dijk database, a major publisher of business information. Results of the BES provide an advanced indication of the direction of the change in overall business activity in the economy and in the various measures of companies' operations, as well as in selected economic indicators. Business confidence, however, strengthened for the next quarter, with CI at 49.5 percent, while the outlook for the next 12 months softened to 48.1 percent.
"Despite the lower year-ahead CI, it remained positive, reflecting businesses' continued optimism about near-term economic prospects," the BSP said. Firms also expect inflation over the next 12 months to remain within the government's target range, indicating firmly anchored business inflation expectations. Within-target inflation supports investments and job creation.
