Filipino families who experienced hunger slightly down in Q2 2022 — SWS survey

MANILA, Philippines — The number of Filipinos who said they experienced hunger during the second quarter of 2022 compared to the previous quarter dropped slightly,  according to a recent Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey.

In a non-commissioned survey conducted by the SWS from June 26 to 29, 2022, 11.6 percent of Filipino families, or an estimated 2.9 million families experienced hunger at least once in the past three months.

 “The June 2022 Hunger rate is 0.6 points below the 12.2% (estimated 3.1 million families) in April 2022, and 0.2 points below the 11.8% (estimated 3.0 million families) in December 2021,” said the SWS.

 “However, it is 1.6 points above the 10% (estimated 2.5 million families) in September 2021. It is also still 2.3 points above the pre-pandemic annual average of 9.3% in 2019,” it added.

Up in Metro Manila, Visayas; down in Balance Luzon, Mindanao

The SWS said that the 0.6 percent drop in overall hunger between the first and second quarter of the year was due to the declines in Metro Manila and Visayas.

“Compared to April 2022, the incidence of hunger fell by 3.9 points in Metro Manila, from 18.6% (est. 636,000 families) in April 2022 to 14.7% (est. 501,000 families) in June 2022,” the SWS survey stated.

“It fell by 2.1 points in the Visayas, from 7.8% (est. 373,000 families) in April 2022 to 5.7% (est. 272,000 families) in June 2022,” it added.

A 0.9 increase%, on the other hand, was recorded in Mindanao, from 13.1 percent (estimated 761,000 families) in April 2022 to 14 percent  (estimated 816,000 families) in June 2022.

 Balance Luzon, meanwhile, rose by 0.2 percent from 11.7 percent (estimated 1.3 million families) in April 2022 to 11.9 percent (estimated 1.4 million families) in June 2022.

More ‘moderate hunger’ vs ‘severe hunger’

 The SWS also reported that 9.4 percent or around 2.4 million families experienced “moderate hunger,” while 2.1 percent or 546,000 families experienced “severe hunger.”

 As explained by SWS, moderate hunger refers to those who experienced hunger “Only Once” or “A Few Times” in the last three months, while severe hunger refers to those who experienced it “Often” or “Always” in the last three months.

SWS said the non-commissioned survey covered 1,500 adults, using face-to-face interviews, with sampling error margins of ±2.5 percent for national percentages and ±5.7 percent each for Metro Manila, the Visayas, and Mindanao and ±4.0 percent in Balance Luzon

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