Philippines got an economic upgrade, yet many Filipinos feel it’s no ‘big deal’

The World Bank recently upgraded the Philippines to an upper-middle-income country, but that classification makes little difference to many Filipinos grappling with rising cost of living, debt and stagnant wages.“I laughed actually. Like, for real? Where did the data come from?” Ann Michelle Federez-Abato said of the July 1 announcement that her country’s gross national income (GNI) per capita had reached US$4,850 in 2025, surpassing the US$4,636 cut-off for upper-middle-income economies.“Filipinos are already at a huge loss with inflation, coupled with their daily expenses and with many sinking further into debt just to get by,” the public high school teacher said, reflecting on a milestone that took nearly 40 years to reach and does not match the nation’s economic reality.