Hunger rate down for 2nd consecutive quarter: SWS survey

Hunger significantly dropped by 6.6 points in Metro Manila from 18.3 percent in December 2018 to 11.7 percent in March 2019. (Shutterstock photo)

MANILA — The Philippines registered a decrease in its hunger rate for the second consecutive quarter, a recent survey by the Social Weather Stations (SWS) showed.

The SWS first quarter 2019 hunger rate survey showed that only 9.5 percent or an estimated 2.3 million families experienced ‘involuntary hunger’ at least once in the past three months.

The latest figures showed a decline from the 10.5 percent or an estimated 2.4 million families, who experienced involuntary hunger in the fourth quarter 2018 survey in December and the 13.3 percent or about 3.1 million families in the September 2018 survey.

Hunger significantly dropped by 6.6 points in Metro Manila from 18.3 percent in December 2018 to 11.7 percent in March 2019.

The hunger rate also declined by 2.2 percent in Mindanao, from 8.3 percent in December 2018 to 6.1 percent in March 2019.

Balance Luzon and Visayas tallied a little higher hunger rates with 0.6 percent and 0.8 percent increase, respectively.

The survey, conducted from March 28-31, 2019, had 1,440 respondents and sampling error margin of ±2.6 percent.