The SWS Surveys of Philippine Hunger, 1998–2024

Eliminating hunger and poverty is central to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, and the Philippines addresses this through both national policy and empirical monitoring. This paper presents key insights from the Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey series, which have tracked self-reported poverty and hunger in Filipino households since 1985. Using quarterly face-to-face interviews since 1992 (and since 1998 for hunger), the SWS provides a uniquely consistent and extensive dataset. The paper focuses on recent trends showing a disturbing rise in hunger, with the September 2024 survey reporting 22.9 percent of households experiencing involuntary hunger—the highest since the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic. Hunger is most prevalent in Mindanao and among self-identified poor and food-poor households. While hunger dropped after 2020, it resurged sharply beginning in late 2023. The study highlights how hunger fluctuates by region, socioeconomic class, and food quality assessments, and explores the link between hunger and self-rated poverty. These findings demonstrate the SWS surveys’ enduring value in monitoring well-being, informing public discourse, and guiding targeted policy responses.