3-M Pinoys experience hunger: SWS survey

Approximately three million Filipinos experienced “involuntary hunger” at least once in the past three months, based on the latest Social Weather Stations survey.

Conducted from 10 to 14 December 2022, the private pollster found that 11.8 percent of Filipino families experienced being hungry or not having anything to eat during the fourth quarter of last year.

The December 2022 hunger figure is slightly above the 11.3 percent in October and 11.6 percent in June, representing an estimated 2.89 million families and 2.95 million families, respectively.

SWS noted that the experience of hunger was highest in Mindanao at 12.7 percent of families.

The figure is followed by the Visayas at 12.0 percent, Metro Manila at 11.7 percent, and Balance Luzon at 11.3 percent.

“It has been highest in Mindanao in 38 out of 100 surveys since July 1998,” the pollster stated.

The 0.5-point increase in overall hunger between October 2022 and December 2022 was due to increases in the Visayas and Balance Luzon, combined with decreases in Metro Manila and Mindanao.

Compared to October 2022, the incidence of hunger rose by five points in the Visayas, from 7 percent to 12.0 percent.

In Balance Luzon, meanwhile, it grew by 1.7 points, from 9.6 percent to 11.3 percent but it fell by 4.6 points in Metro Manila, from 16.3 percent to 11.7 percent.

In Mindanao, on the other hand, it decreased by 2.6 points, from 15.3 percent to 12.7 percent.

The survey used face-to-face interviews with 1,200 adults nationwide: 300 each in Metro Manila, Balance Luzon, the Visayas, and Mindanao.

The sampling error margins are ±2.5 percent for national percentages and ±5.7 percent each for Metro Manila, Balance Luzon, the Visayas, and Mindanao.