About 22 percent of Filipino families experienced involuntary hunger, going hungry with nothing to eat, at least once in the past three months, based on the latest Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey results released on Wednesday, Nov. 5.

The national survey, conducted from Sept. 24 to 30, showed an increase of 5.9 points from 16.1 percent in June, interrupting the previous downward trend from 27.2 percent in March to 19.1 percent in mid-April and 20 percent in late April.

The Third Quarter 2025 Social Weather Survey was based on face-to-face interviews with 1,500 adults, 18 years old and above, nationwide.

Hunger was highest in Metro Manila at 25.7 percent, followed by Balance Luzon at 23.8 percent, Mindanao at 19.7 percent, and the Visayas at 17.7 percent.

SWS said the overall 5.9-point rise from June to September was due to increases in all areas except the Visayas.

Compared to June, hunger rose by 10 points in Mindanao, 8.5 points in Balance Luzon, and four points in Metro Manila, while falling by four points in the Visayas.

The September hunger rate consisted of 16.7 percent experiencing moderate hunger and 5.2 percent experiencing severe hunger.

Moderate hunger refers to those who went hungry only once or a few times in the past three months, while severe hunger refers to those who went hungry often or always.

From June to September, moderate hunger rose by 3.9 points from 12.8 percent, while severe hunger rose by 1.9 points from 3.3 percent.

Regionally, moderate hunger in Metro Manila rose from 16 percent in June to 19.3 percent in September, while severe hunger increased from 5.7 percent to 6.3 percent.

In Balance Luzon, moderate hunger rose from 13 percent to 17.2 percent, and severe hunger from 2.3 percent to 6.6 percent.

In Mindanao, moderate hunger rose from 7 percent to 16 percent, while severe hunger increased from 2.7 percent to 3.7 percent.

In the Visayas, moderate hunger fell from 17 percent to 14.7 percent, while severe hunger declined from 4.7 percent to 3 percent.