About 20 percent of Filipino families said they experienced involuntary hunger — going hungry without anything to eat — at least once in the past three months, according to the latest Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey released Saturday.

The nationwide poll, conducted from 23 to 28 April, showed a slight increase of 0.9 percentage points from the previous survey held April 11 to 15, which pegged the rate at 19.1 percent. Still, this is notably lower than the 27.2 percent recorded in March.

SWS explained that the marginal increase was due to mixed trends across regions. Hunger levels fell in Metro Manila and Balance Luzon, but rose in the Visayas and Mindanao.

In the survey, respondents were asked if, during the past three months, their families had ever experienced hunger and not had anything to eat. If they answered “yes,” they were asked how often this happened — only once, a few times, often, or always.

The SWS classifies those who experienced hunger only once or a few times as suffering from “moderate hunger.” Those who said it happened often or always fall under “severe hunger.”

In Metro Manila, moderate hunger dropped to 14.3 percent from 19.7 percent, while severe hunger slightly decreased from 6.3 percent to 6.0 percent.

In Balance Luzon, moderate hunger fell to 13.9 percent from 16.5 percent, and severe hunger decreased to 3.1 percent from 4.0 percent.

The Visayas, however, saw moderate hunger rise to 18.3 percent from 11.7 percent, even as severe hunger dropped to 1.3 percent from 2.7 percent.

Mindanao recorded the sharpest increase, with moderate hunger climbing to 21.3 percent from 13.7 percent, and severe hunger increasing to 5.0 percent from 3.7 percent.

The first quarter 2025 survey involved face-to-face interviews with 1,500 Filipino adults aged 18 and above — 600 from Balance Luzon, and 300 each from Metro Manila, the Visayas and Mindanao. The sampling error margin is ±3 percent for national figures and ±6 percent for each regional breakdown.