A Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey revealed that 14.2 percent of Filipino families experienced “involuntary hunger” in the first quarter of 2024, up from 12.6 percent in the last quarter of 2023.

SWS defines involuntary hunger as “being hungry and not having anything to eat at least once in the past three months.”

The results of the survey conducted from March 21 to 25 revealed a 1.6-point increase in hunger compared to the findings from December 2023.

Moreover, SWS said the March 2024 hunger figure was 3.5 points above the 10.7 percent annual hunger rate of 2023 and the highest since the 16.8 percent in May 2021.

Metro Manila registers highest hunger rate anew

SWS noted that involuntary hunger among Filipino families was highest in Metro Manila at 19 percent, followed by Balance Luzon at 15.3 percent, Visayas at 15 percent, and Mindanao at 8.7 percent.

“The 1.6-point rise in hunger between December 2023 and March 2024 was due to increases in Metro Manila, the Visayas, and Balance Luzon, combined with a decline in Mindanao,” SWS explained.

Compared to December 2023, the incidence of hunger rose significantly in Metro Manila, from 12.7 to 19 percent, and in the Visayas, from 9.3 to 15 percent.

It also increased in Balance Luzon, from 14.3 to 15.3 percent.

However, involuntary hunger fell in Mindanao, from 12 to 8.7 percent.

Moderate vs severe hunger

SWS also pointed out that the 14.2 percent hunger rate in March 2024 was the sum of 12.2 percent who experienced “moderate hunger” and 2 percent who experienced “severe hunger.”

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.

SWS said moderate and severe hunger rose from 11.2 percent and 1.4 percent in December 2023, respectively.

It also noted that the rise in hunger among the non-poor outweighed the slight fall in the self-rated poverty rate.

The March 2024 survey on self-rated poverty found 46 percent of Filipino families rated themselves as “mahirap” or poor, 30 percent as “borderline,” by placing themselves on a horizontal line dividing poor and not poor, and 23 percent as “hindi mahirap” or not poor.

The results of the self-rated poverty survey were released on April 25.

SWS vs OCTA survey results

The SWS survey results differ from the findings of the OCTA survey, which showed a decrease in hunger rate during the first quarter of 2024 compared to the last quarter of 2023.

OCTA’s survey results, released on April 23, showed that 11 percent, or 2.9 million families, faced involuntary hunger in the first quarter of 2024. 

This marked a decline of 3 percent compared to the last quarter of 2023, where 14 percent, or 3.7 million households, reported experiencing involuntary hunger.

The SWS survey took place between March 21 and 25, involving face-to-face interviews with 1,500 adults across the country. 

Meanwhile, the OCTA survey was conducted from March 11 to 14, with face-to-face interviews involving 1,200 adult respondents nationwide.