Hunger slightly down to 20.3% – SWS

MANILA, Philippines — One in every five Filipino families experienced involuntary hunger in the second quarter of the year, according to a survey conducted by Social Weather Stations (SWS).

Results of the June 20 to 29 survey showed that 20.3 percent of the respondents experienced being hungry and having nothing to eat at least once in the past three months.

It was down slightly from 23.2 percent in March.

In the survey, 15.8 percent of respondents said their families experienced moderate hunger (down from 17.7 percent) while 4.5 percent said they experienced severe hunger (down from 5.1 percent).

Moderate hunger is defined as those who experienced hunger “only once” or “a few times” in the last three months, while severe hunger refers to those who experienced it “often” or “always” in the last three months.

Across areas, the June 2026 hunger rate was highest among respondents in Mindanao at 24 percent (from 21.7 percent), followed by those in the Visayas at 22.3 percent (from 28 percent), Metro Manila at 21 percent (from 22 percent) and rest of Luzon at 17.3 percent (from 22.4 percent).

The SWS said involuntary hunger is higher among poor households (24.5 percent, from 27.5 percent) than those who identified their families as non-poor or borderline poor (16.2 percent, from 18.5 percent).

The latest poll found that 49 percent of the respondents considered their families poor, while 37 percent rated their families as “not poor.”

The remaining 14 percent were described by the polling firm as those in the borderline.