Filipinos ranked badly – third worst in the world – on whether they have an accurate understanding about key global issues.
In a survey conducted by Ipsos MORI, a UK-based market research group, people in the Philippines were badly informed about topics such as teenage pregnancy, diabetes, immigrant prisoners and suicide.
South Africa and Brazil were ahead of the Philippines, ranking first and second respectively.
According to the survey, 500 respondents from the Philippines believed that 40% of women in the country aged between 15 to 19 years old have given birth. However, the actual figure is only 6.3%.
Asked about diabetes, they believed that 45% of Filipinos have diabetes – but the reality is just 7% of the population have the illness.
The respondents also thought that 20% of women aged 15 to 24 had committed suicide, but the actual figure is 3.5%.
The Filipino respondents guessed that 86 out of 100 people own a smartphone, but the actual figure is 23. They also believed that 61 out of 100 people own a vehicle, but only eight people do.
In regard to the health of the population, the Filipino respondents were much more accurate by saying 57% of people were in good health, when the actual figure is 58%.
Despite ranking as the third least accurate country, the Philippines was among the top three countries where people were the most confident about their answers. The top two countries with the most confident respondents were India and Serbia.
The survey, titled ‘Perils of Perception 2017’ was conducted with over 29,000 respondents in 38 countries. It was conducted between September 28 to October 19 last year.