A recent Social Weather Stations survey shows that nearly 26% of Filipino families experienced involuntary hunger at least once in the past three months, marking a sharp increase from the previous quarter.

The hunger rate, which rose by 3 percentage points from 22.9% in September, is the highest since the 30.7% recorded during the COVID-19 lockdowns in September 2020.

The 2024 annual average hunger rate reached 20.2%, nearly double the previous year’s 10.7% and just shy of the 21.1% recorded in 2020.

Regionally, hunger was most prevalent in Mindanao, where 30.3% of families reported going hungry, followed by Balance Luzon at 25.3%, the Visayas at 24.4%, and Metro Manila at 22.2%. While hunger rose notably in Balance Luzon, it saw a slight increase in Metro Manila. Conversely, it dropped in the Visayas, with only minor changes in Mindanao.

The December survey also distinguished between “moderate hunger”—those who were hungry once or a few times in the last three months—and “severe hunger”, experienced more frequently. Of the 25.9% of families who reported hunger, 18.7% experienced moderate hunger, and 7.2% faced severe hunger.

Moderate hunger increased by 1.9 percentage points from September 2024, while severe hunger rose by 1.1 points. In Metro Manila, moderate hunger surged by 4.5 points, although severe hunger declined. In Balance Luzon, both forms of hunger increased, with moderate hunger rising 3.6 points and severe hunger increasing by the same margin. The Visayas saw a decline of 1.7 points in moderate hunger, while figures in Mindanao remained mostly unchanged.

Hunger also varied across socio-economic groups. The survey found that 63% of families classified themselves as “poor”, with 51% identifying as “food-poor”. Hunger was highest among those in these categories, but the rate of hunger also rose among those who identified as “non-Poor”.

Among the “self-rated poor”, the rate of total hunger increased from 29.3% to 31.5%. Among the “non-poor”, it grew from 13.8% to 16.3%. Additionally, hunger rates climbed among the self-rated food-poor, from 34.5% to 35.7%, while the non-food-poor experienced a more modest increase from 13.1% to 15.6%.

The SWS survey was conducted from December 12 to 18, 2024, with face-to-face interviews of 2,160 adults nationwide.

The survey’s margin of error is ±2% for national percentages and ±3% for Balance Luzon. The study was conducted without external commissioning and serves as a public service release from Social Weather Stations.