A Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey revealed that Filipino families who experienced involuntary hunger rose slightly to 20 percent toward the end of April 2025.
The first quarter survey– conducted from April 23 to 28–defines involuntary hunger as “being hungry and not having anything to eat at least once in the past three months.”
This figure is up from 19.1 percent recorded in mid-April, following a steep 8.1-point drop from 27.2 percent in March.
SWS said the 20 percent overall hunger rate combines 16.4 percent who experienced “moderate hunger”—hunger only once or a few times in three months—and 3.6 percent who experienced “severe hunger,” meaning they went hungry often or always.
Regionally, hunger was highest in Mindanao at 26.3 percent, followed by Metro Manila at 20.3 percent, the Visayas at 19.7 percent, and Balance Luzon at 17 percent, the survey said.
Compared to mid-April, incidence dropped by 5.7 points in Metro Manila and by 3.5 points in Balance Luzon but increased by 9 points in Mindanao and 5.4 points in the Visayas.
The same survey also found that 50 percent of families nationwide consider themselves poor, while 8 percent rated themselves on the borderline between poor and not poor, and 42 percent identified as not poor. Self-rated food poverty stood at 41 percent, with 7 percent at the borderline and 51 percent saying they are not food-poor. SWS noted that hunger remains highest among food-poor families.
