A Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey conducted from Sept. 28 to Oct. 1 found that 9.8 percent of Filipino families have experienced “involuntary hunger” in the past three months.

SWS defines involuntary hunger as “being hungry and not having anything to eat.”

Based on the survey results released on Tuesday, Nov. 21, the hunger rate in September was lower than the 10.4 percent in June, but was the same as the 9.8 percent in March.

Hunger falls in Visayas, Balance Luzon; rises slightly in Metro Manila

SWS said hunger incidence was highest in Metro Manila at 17.3 percent, followed by Balance Luzon—or Luzon outside Metro Manila—at 10.3 percent, while Visayas and Mindanao had the lowest hunger rates, both at 6.7 percent.

“The 0.6-point decline in overall hunger between June 2023 and September 2023 was due to declines in the Visayas and Balance Luzon, combined with a rise in Metro Manila and a steady score in Mindanao,” SWS said.

Compared to June 2023, hunger incidence decreased by 2.6 points in the Visayas and in Balance Luzon by one point, while it increased in Metro Manila by 1.6 points.

Meanwhile, it “hardly changed” in Mindanao from 6.3 percent to 6.7 percent.

Moderate vs severe hunger

SWS pointed out that the 9.8 percent hunger rate in September 2023 was the sum of 8.4 percent who experienced “moderate hunger” and 1.3 percent who experienced “severe hunger.”

It said moderate hunger refers to those who experienced hunger “only once” or “a few times” in the last three months, while severe hunger refers to those who experienced it “often” or “always” in the previous three months.

“Compared to June 2023, moderate hunger hardly moved from 8.3 percent, while severe hunger fell slightly from 2.1 percent,” SWS said.

Moderate Hunger in Metro Manila increased from 12 percent to 13.3 percent, while severe hunger remained stable at 3.7 percent.

In Balance Luzon, moderate hunger increased from 8.3 percent to 9 percent, while severe hunger fell from 3 percent to 1.3 percent.

Meanwhile, moderate hunger in Visayas decreased from 8.3 percent to 5.7 percent, while severe hunger remained at 1 percent.

In Mindanao, moderate hunger rose from 6 percent to 6.7 percent, while severe hunger moved from 0.3 percent to zero.

The Third Quarter 2023 SWS survey interviewed 1,200 adults across the country, with 300 in Metro Manila, Balance Luzon (or Luzon outside Metro Manila), the Visayas, and Mindanao.

The sampling error margins for national percentages are 2.8 percent, and 5.7 percent for Metro Manila, Balance Luzon, the Visayas, and Mindanao.