More Filipinos hungry in first quarter of 2024 – SWS

MANILA, Philippines — Filipino families experiencing involuntary hunger climbed in March 2024 compared to late last year, a new poll released Tuesday found.

According to a survey conducted March 21 to 25 by private pollster Social Weather Station, 14.2% of Filipino families were hungry or had nothing to eat at least once in the past three months, surpassing last quarter's hunger incidence of 12.6%.

The latest reading is the highest hunger incidence since May 2021, when SWS recorded 16.8%. 

The survey results are based on face-to-face interviews with 1,500 adults nationwide, with sampling error margins at 2.5%. 

The rise in hunger levels came from the increase in hunger incidence from Metro Manila, Visayas and Balance Luzon, while Mindanao experienced a decline.

At least 19% of families in Metro Manila reported experiencing involuntary hunger — the highest in the country — followed by Balance Luzon (Luzon outside Metro Manila) at 15.3%, Visayas at 15% and Mindanao at 8.7%.

Compared to the previous quarter, hunger levels dropped in Mindanao from 12% to 8.7%.

SWS also noted that a higher proportion of families that typically consider themselves not poor experienced involuntary hunger in the first quarter of the year, going up from 5.9% in December 2023 to 9.8% in March 2024. 

Meanwhile, hunger incidence among families that consider themselves poor dipped from 25.5%  to 21.3%. — Cristina Chi