Philippine hunger rate surges, surpasses pandemic peak: survey
A homeless family takes shelter from heavy rains inside their makeshift home in Quezon City on Thursday. Jonathan Cellona, ABS-CBN News MANILA — The proportion of Filipino families experiencing involuntary hunger rose to 22.6 percent in September, surpassing levels recorded during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic as self-rated poverty deepened, according to the latest survey from an independent polling agency.
The Social Weather Stations (SWS) said the third-quarter survey represents a 2.3 percentage point increase from 20.3 percent in June. It also tops the 20.2 percent national average recorded in 2025 and exceeds the record-high average of 21.1 percent logged in 2020 during pandemic lockdowns.
According to the survey of 1,500 adults conducted nationwide from September 21 to 27, 16.2 percent of families experienced “moderate hunger”—defined as going without food once or a few times over the preceding three months.
Meanwhile, “severe hunger”—going hungry often or always—rose to 6.4 percent, up nearly two points from 4.5 percent in June.
SWS attributed the overall national surge primarily to sharp spikes in Metro Manila and Luzon.
Hunger in Metro Manila jumped six percentage points to 27 percent, making it the most affected region in the country. In Luzon outside the capital, hunger surged 6.3 points to 23.6 percent.
By contrast, hunger in the central Visayas region dropped 6.3 points to 16.0 percent, while remaining virtually steady in southern Mindanao at 23.7 percent.
The survey showed a concurrent swell in self-rated poverty across the country. Fifty-five percent of Filipino families rated themselves as poor in September, up six points from June, while self-rated food poverty jumped eight points to 44 percent.
Among families self-identifying as poor, total hunger rose to 27.9 percent from 24.5 percent in June. Among those identifying as food-poor, hunger climbed to 33.2 percent from 29.9 percent.
SWS noted that the national increase was driven both by a higher number of families falling into self-rated poverty and deepening hunger within those impoverished groups.
The non-commissioned face-to-face survey carried a national margin of error of plus or minus three percentage points.