The proportion of Filipino families who experienced involuntary hunger at least once in the past three months eased to 20.1 percent, based on results of the national Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey results released on Wednesday, Jan. 14.

The Fourth Quarter 2025 survey, conducted from Nov. 24 to 30 with 1,200 adult respondents, found that 20.1 percent of families reported being hungry and having nothing to eat.

This was lower by 1.9 points from 22 percent in September 2025 and follows an increase from 16.1 percent in June 2025.

The 2025 full-year hunger average was 20.2 percent, the same as in 2024 and 0.9 point below the record-high annual average of 21.1 percent posted in 2020 at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic.

SWS said the 1.9-point national decline between September and November 2025 resulted from decreases in Balance Luzon and Metro Manila, offsetting increases in Mindanao and the Visayas.

As of November, hunger incidence was highest in Mindanao at 26.7 percent, followed by Metro Manila and the Visayas, both at 20.3 percent.

Balance Luzon, or Luzon areas outside Metro Manila, registered 16.7 percent.

Compared with September 2025, hunger dropped by 7.1 points from 23.8 percent in Balance Luzon and by 5.4 points from 25.7 percent in Metro Manila.

In contrast, it rose by seven points from 19.7 percent in Mindanao and by 2.6 points from 17.7 percent in the Visayas.

Of the 20.1 percent hunger rate in November, SWS said 15.6 percent experienced “moderate hunger” while 4.5 percent experienced “severe hunger.”

Moderate hunger refers to families who went hungry “only once” or “a few times” in the past three months, while severe hunger refers to those who experienced hunger “often” or “always” during the same period.

From September to November, moderate hunger declined by 1.1 point from 16.7 percent, and severe hunger dropped by 0.7 point from 5.2 percent.

By area, moderate hunger in Metro Manila fell by 5.3 points from 19.3 percent in September to 14.0 percent in November, while severe hunger stayed at 6.3 percent.

In Balance Luzon, moderate hunger fell by 4.5 points from 17.2 percent to 12.7 percent, and severe hunger declined by 2.6 points from 6.6 percent to 4 percent.

In the Visayas, moderate hunger rose by two points from 14.7 percent to 16.7 percent, while severe hunger increased by 0.7 point from 3.0 percent to 3.7 percent.

In Mindanao, moderate hunger climbed by 5.7 points from 16 percent to 21.7 percent, while severe hunger rose by 1.3 point from 3.7 percent to 5 percent.