The situation, in brief
More Filipinos experienced involuntary hunger in the first quarter of 2026, rising to 23.2%, according to a survey by the Social Weather Stations (SWS). The non-commissioned survey, conducted from March 24 to 31 through face-to-face interviews with 1,500 adults nationwide, showed a…
More Filipinos experienced involuntary hunger in the first quarter of 2026, rising to 23.2%, according to a survey by the Social Weather Stations (SWS).
The non-commissioned survey, conducted from March 24 to 31 through face-to-face interviews with 1,500 adults nationwide, showed a 3.1-percentage-point increase from the 20.1% recorded in November 2025.
SWS defines involuntary hunger as “being hungry and having nothing to eat — at least once in the past three months.”
The latest hunger rate is the highest recorded since March 2025, when it reached 27.2%.
The current figures comprise 17.7% of respondents who said their families experienced moderate hunger, up from 15.6%, and 5.5% who experienced severe hunger, up from 4.5%.
SWS defines moderate hunger 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” during the same period.
The March 2026 hunger rate was highest among respondents in the Visayas at 28%, followed by Balance Luzon at 22.4%, Metro Manila at 22%, and Mindanao at 21.7%.
According to the survey, 52% of respondents considered their families poor, while 35% said their families were “not poor.”
The survey had a sampling error margin of ±3 percentage points for national percentages, ±6 percentage points each for Metro Manila, the Visayas, and Mindanao, and ±4 percentage points for Balance Luzon.
