Nearly all Filipinos reported spending more money on food in the past three months, the results of a Pulse Asia survey in September, released on Thursday, revealed.
Of 1,200 adults polled in the survey, 95 percent said they spent more on food in the past quarter, higher than the 89 percent reported a year prior, Pulse Asia said.
Also, 83 percent of respondents said they spent more on rice and 61 percent identified non-rice food items.
“Across geographic areas and socio-economic, majorities cite food as one of the household items they spent more on in the previous quarter (89 percent to 98 percent and 94 percent to 99 percent,respectively),” the pollster noted.
A “sizable majority” or 62 percent also reported spending more on electricity, Pulse Asia added.
A little over half of the adult population or 53 percent reduced their food consumption in the past three months, the survey also found, and 49 percent said they consumed less electricity.
Other items that Filipino adults consumed less of in the last quarter included cellphone load (28 percent), water (25 percent), LPG (21percent), gasoline/diesel (20 percent), recreation-related expenses (17 percent), transportation (16 percent), and medicine and other health-related needs (11 percent).
Eight percent said they did not reduce their consumption of any of these items, Pulse Asia noted.
High food prices in the Philippines have pushed inflation to a five-month peak, officials said Thursday (see banner story – Editors).
Last month, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. put a controversial price cap on rice, a national staple, to support poor households. He lifted the price controls on Wednesday, saying the ongoing harvest was easing pressure on supply.
A separate poll showed inflation was the top concern among those surveyed.