Hunger rises to 22% in Q3 — SWS

HUNGER among Filipino families climbed sharply in the third quarter of 2025, interrupting earlier gains in food security, according to the latest Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey released on Wednesday.

The survey, conducted from Sept. 24 to 30, found that 22% of Filipino families experienced involuntary hunger, or being hungry and having nothing to eat, at least once in the past three months.

The figure rose 5.9 points from 16.1% in June, halting the downward trend recorded earlier this year from 27.2% in March.

The national hunger rate averaged 20.2% so far in 2025, matching last year’s average and just below the record-high 21.1% during the pandemic year 2020.

Hunger increased across the country except in the Visayas, where hunger rate dropped by 4 points to 17.7%.

Metro Manila recorded the highest hunger rate, with 25.7%, followed by Balance Luzon with 23.8%. Mindanao recorded the sharpest jump, climbing 10 points to 19.7% from the previous quarter.

Of those who experienced hunger, 16.7% reported “moderate hunger,” or  being hungry only once or a few times in the last three months, while 5.2% reported “severe hunger,” or experiencing hunger often or always.

The problem affected both the poor and non-poor, though the poor remained more vulnerable.

Hunger among self-rated poor families rose to 26.9% in September from 21% in June, while it climbed to 17% from 11.4% among the non-poor.

Among those who identified as food-poor, hunger surged to 31.5% from 21.3%.

The survey interviewed 1,500 adults nationwide through face-to-face interviews, with a ±3% national margin of error. — Chloe Mari A. Hufana