The proportion of Filipino families experiencing involuntary hunger in the past three months eased to 20.1%, according to the Social Weather Stations (SWS) Fourth Quarter 2025 survey released on Wednesday, January 14.
The survey, conducted from November 24 to 30 with 1,200 adult respondents, found that 20.1% of families reported being hungry and having nothing to eat. This is down 1.9% from 22% in September 2025, following a rise from 16.1% in June 2025.
The 2025 full-year hunger average was 20.2%, unchanged from 2024 and 0.9% below the record-high 21.1% posted in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic.
SWS noted that the national decline between September and November 2025 resulted from decreases in Balance Luzon and Metro Manila, offset by increases in Mindanao and the Visayas.
Hunger incidence was highest in Mindanao at 26.7%, followed by Metro Manila and the Visayas at 20.3%, and Balance Luzon at 16.7%.
Compared with September 2025, hunger fell by 7.1% in Balance Luzon (from 23.8%) and by 5.4% in Metro Manila (from 25.7%), while rising by 7% in Mindanao (from 19.7%) and 2.6% in the Visayas (from 17.7%).