A survey conducted by the Social Weather Stations (SWS) in December 2023 revealed that approximately 12.6 percent of Filipino families have experienced involuntary hunger—being hungry and having nothing to eat—at least once in the previous three months.

Based on the findings of the survey conducted from Dec. 8 to 11, 2023, hunger increased from 9.8 percent in September 2023 to 12.6 percent in December 2023.

“This brings the 2023 annual hunger rate to 10.7 percent, 1 point below the 11.7 percent average in 2022 but 1.4 points above the pre-pandemic 9.3 percent average in 2019,” SWS said in its report released on Monday, Jan. 22.

SWS said hunger was highest in Balance Luzon, or Luzon outside Metro Manila, at 14.3 percent, followed by Metro Manila at 12.7 percent, Mindanao at 12 percent, and the Visayas at 9.3 percent.

It attributed the 2.8-point rise in hunger between September 2023 and December 2023 to increases in Mindanao, Balance Luzon, and the Visayas, combined with a decrease in Metro Manila.

Severe vs moderate hunger

In December 2023, the hunger rate was 12.6 percent, which included 11.2 percent who experienced "moderate" hunger and 1.4 percent who experienced "severe" hunger.

Moderate hunger is defined as "only once" or "a few times" in the previous three months, whereas severe hunger is defined as "often" or "always" in the same time frame.

“Compared to September 2023, moderate hunger rose by 2.8 points from 8.4 percent, while severe hunger hardly moved from 1.3 percent,” SWS said.

The Fourth Quarter 2023 SWS survey was conducted from Dec. 8 to 11 using face-to-face interviews of 1,200 adults nationwide.

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