SWS: Filipino families experiencing hunger decreases to 9.8%

The number of Filipino families who have experienced hunger at least once in the past three months decreased to 9.8% in September 2023.

A survey was shown by the Social Weather Station where the latest data for involuntary hunger or being hungry and not having anything to eat dropped from 10.4% in June 2023, and was the same as the data logged in March 2023.

"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 in a statement.

According to SWS, Metro Manila has the highest hunger rate per area at 17.3% up from 15.7% the previous quarter. It was followed by Balance Luzon at 10.3% from 11.3%, and the Visayas at 6.7% from 9.3%. The hunger rate in Mindanao increased from 6.3% to 6.7%.

8.4% of the respondents reported that they experienced moderate hunger, which is defined as "Only Once" or "A Few Times" during the last three months. Around 1.3% of respondents said they experienced Severe Hunger, meaning they experienced it "Often" or "Always" in the previous three months.

The poll was conducted from Sept. 28 to Oct. 1 using face-to-face interviews of 1,200 adults across the country.

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