Fewer Filipinos experienced poverty and hunger in the first quarter of 2024, based on the OCTA Research survey results released on Tuesday, April 23.

The survey, which was conducted from March 11 to 14, with 1,200 respondents nationwide, found that 42 percent, or an estimated 11.1 million Filipino families, considered themselves poor in the first quarter of 2024.

This was a “slight” decrease from 45 percent, or an estimated 11.9 million families, in the fourth quarter of 2023.

“The 3 percent decrease, representing approximately 800,000 families, while modest, still represents a continuing downward trend in self-­rated poverty observed since July 2023, where self-rated poverty was at 50 percent. Self-rated poverty has been going down at a modest rate for the last five quarters starting July 2023,” OCTA said in its report.

It also said that self-rated poverty fell significantly in three major areas in the first quarter of 2024 when compared to the second quarter of 2023.

It fell from 40 to 29 percent in Metro Manila, 46 to 28 percent in Balance Luzon, and 57 to 47 percent in the Visayas.

Meanwhile, self-rated poverty in Mindanao rose from 59 to 71 percent.

OCTA also pointed out that in the first quarter of 2024, among those who considered their families poor, the median amount they need for home expenses to no longer be considered poor is P20,000 per month, the same as the median in the fourth quarter of 2023 but less than the P33,000 per month median in October 2023.

Self-rated hunger

During the same survey period, OCTA found that 11 percent, or an estimated 2.9 million families, experienced involuntary hunger in the first quarter of 2024.

This was a 3 percent decrease from the fourth quarter of 2023 when 14 percent, or an estimated 3.7 million households, experienced involuntary hunger.

“The 3 percent increase, representing approximately 800,000 families, deviates from the upward trends observed in the fourth quarter of 2023,” OCTA said.

Across major areas, self-rated hunger decreased in the Visayas, from 19 to 13 percent, and in Mindanao, from 18 to 12 percent.

Balance Luzon experienced a “modest” decrease in self-rated hunger, from 11 to 9 percent, while Metro Manila saw a slight increase, from 8 to 9 percent.

OCTA also noted that among those whose families experienced hunger in the last three months, 89 percent said they experienced hunger either "only once" or "a few times," while only 10 percent experienced hunger "often" or "always."

Across major areas, more Filipino families in Balance Luzon and Metro Manila reported going hungry "often" or "always" at 14 percent and 11 percent, respectively, compared to those from Visayas and Mindanao, at 7 percent and 6 percent, respectively.

Across socioeconomic classes, 13 percent of Filipino families in Class D experienced hunger "often" or "always," compared to 9 percent in Class E.

Meanwhile, no one in Class ABC reported the same thing.

OCTA's "Tugon ng Masa" survey was independent and non-commissioned.