Hunger rises to 25.9% nationwide; rate in Mindanao is highest at 30% – SWS

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MALAYBALAY CITY (MindaNews / 18 January) – Filipino families experiencing involuntary hunger – being hungry and not having anything to eat – at least once in the past three months have reached 25.9 percent, according to a national survey conducted by the Social Weather Stations (SWS) on December 12-18, 2024.

As of December 2024, the experience of hunger was highest in Mindanao at 30.3 percent of families, followed by Balance Luzon (or Luzon outside Metro Manila) at 25.3 percent, the Visayas at 24.4 percent, and Metro Manila at 22.2 percent, SWS said.

In September 2024, hunger rate in Mindanao was 30.7 percent, also higher than all the other geographic areas.

The national average in December 2024 was 3.0 points above the 22.9 percent in September 2024, and the highest since the record high 30.7 percent during the COVID-19 lockdowns in September 2020, it noted.

It added that the December 2024 figure was 16.1 points above the September 2023 hunger figure after five consecutive quarterly increases.

The 2024 annual hunger average was 20.2 percent, or almost twice the 2023 annual hunger average of 10.7 percent, and just 0.9 points below the record high 2020 annual hunger average of 21.1 percent, according to the survey.

SWS said the 25.9-percent hunger rate in December 2024 was the sum of 18.7 percent who experienced Moderate Hunger and 7.2 percent who experienced Severe Hunger.

It said Moderate Hunger refers to those who experienced hunger “Only Once” or “A Few Times” in the last three months. Meanwhile, Severe Hunger refers to those who experienced it “Often” or “Always” in the previous three months.

In Mindanao, Moderate Hunger hardly moved from 24.0 percent to 23.6 percent, while Severe Hunger stayed at 6.7 percent, it added.

The survey was conducted using face-to-face interviews of 2,160 adults (18 years old and above) nationwide: 1,080 in Balance Luzon (or Luzon outside Metro Manila), and 360 each in Metro Manila, the Visayas, and Mindanao.

The area estimates were weighted by the Philippine Statistics Authority medium-population projections for 2024 to obtain the national estimates, the SWS explained.

The sampling error margins are ±2% for national percentages, ±3% in Balance Luzon, and ±5% each for Metro Manila, the Visayas, and Mindanao, it said. (MindaNews)