Fewer Filipino households reported going hungry in the second quarter of 2025, marking a welcome improvement from earlier this year, according to the Social Weather Stations (SWS).
The survey, held from June 25 to 29, showed that 16.1% of families—or around 4.6 million households—experienced involuntary hunger at least once in the past three months. This is almost four points lower than the 20% posted in April and a sharp turnaround from the 27.2% recorded in March.
Shifting hunger patterns
SWS pointed out that the year-to-date hunger average now stands at 19.9%, slightly below last year’s figure of 20.2%. It is also well below the pandemic high of 21.1% in 2020.
Metro Manila and the Visayas posted the highest rates in June, both at 21.7%, followed by Balance Luzon with 15.3%. Mindanao recorded the lowest at 9.7%, a dramatic improvement after registering 26.3% in April.
Moderate versus severe cases
Breaking down the figures, 12.8% experienced hunger occasionally, while 3.3% said they went hungry often or always. This suggests that most incidents fall under “moderate hunger.”
Interestingly, Metro Manila saw a small uptick in moderate cases, while the Visayas logged a rise in severe hunger. Mindanao, on the other hand, showed declines in both categories.
Poor and non-poor families
The decline was seen across both self-rated poor and non-poor households. Among those who considered themselves poor, hunger incidence dropped to 21% from 25.9%. Among the non-poor, the figure eased to 11.4% from 14.1%.
Food-poor households also reported relief, with the rate slipping to 21.3% from 28.4%.
How the survey was done
The SWS poll covered 1,200 respondents nationwide, equally divided among Metro Manila, Balance Luzon, the Visayas, and Mindanao. It has an error margin of ±3% nationwide and ±6% for each area.
