Global hunger fell overall last year, marking a modest yet encouraging decline on a worldwide scale, but the crisis continued to worsen sharply in most of Africa and western Asia. According to a comprehensive new report published by five specialized United Nations agencies and released by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), millions of people remain trapped in severe food insecurity, driven largely by lingering economic shocks, extreme weather events, and geopolitical conflicts.
The report, titled The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World (SOFI), reveals that roughly 8.2 percent of the world’s population—representing about 673 million people—suffered from hunger in 2024. This figure represents an improvement from previous years, down from 8.7 percent in 2022 and 8.5 percent in 2023. Depending on the precise statistical modeling used within the broad global assessment, the report indicates that between 638 and 720 million people faced chronic hunger last year. This translates to a decrease of approximately 15 million individuals compared to 2023 and 22 million fewer than in 2022.
Despite these global gains, leaders and international organizations emphasize that progress remains starkly uneven across different regions and economic strata.
"While it is encouraging to see a decrease in the global hunger rate, we must recognize that progress is uneven," said FAO Director-General QU Dongyu in an official press release accompanying the launch. "SOFI 2025 serves as a critical reminder that we need to intensify efforts to ensure that everyone has access to sufficient, safe, and nutritious food. To achieve this, we must work collaboratively and innovatively with governments, organizations, and communities to address the specific challenges faced by vulnerable populations, especially in regions where hunger remains persistent."
A closer examination of the regional data demonstrates shifting trends across the globe. In Asia, the number of undernourished people fell significantly, dropping to 6.7 percent of the population down from 7.9 percent two years earlier. Similarly, the Caribbean and Latin America recorded notable improvements. Undernourishment in those regions decreased to 5.1 percent of the population—affecting 34 million people—in 2024, continuing a downward trajectory following a regional peak of 6.1 percent in 2020.
However, these positive global trends stand in stark contrast to the persistent and steady rise in hunger across Africa and western Asia, where numerous countries remain affected by prolonged food crises, political instability, and severe environmental pressures. The proportion of the population facing hunger in Africa surpassed 20 percent in 2024, directly impacting 307 million people. Meanwhile, in western Asia, an estimated 12.7 percent of the population—amounting to more than 39 million people—faced hunger during the same period.
Beyond absolute hunger, the report also evaluated moderate or severe food insecurity, which measures individuals experiencing constraints on adequate food access for part of the year. This broader metric decreased slightly to 28 percent in 2024, affecting 2.3 billion people worldwide, down from 28.4 percent in 2023.
World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus noted that while achievements have been made in specific public health areas, much more work is required. "In recent years, the world has made good progress in reducing stunting and supporting exclusive breastfeeding, but there is still much to be done to relieve millions of people from the burdens of food insecurity and malnutrition," he said.
Looking ahead toward the end of the decade, the projections underscore the immense difficulty of achieving the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal of Zero Hunger. Current estimates suggest that 512 million people could still experience chronic undernourishment by 2030, with nearly 60 percent of those affected residing in Africa. This warning was issued jointly by the FAO, the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), the UN World Food Programme (WFP), the United Nations children’s agency (UNICEF), and the WHO.
The persistent crisis is deeply tied to the economic fallout of the global food price surge experienced between 2021 and 2023. Food price inflation—fueled by a combination of policy responses to the COVID-19 pandemic, the ongoing impacts of Russia’s war in Ukraine, and increasingly severe extreme weather events across the globe—has severely hindered recovery in nutrition and food security since 2020.
Low-income nations have borne the heaviest burden of these escalating costs. While median global food price inflation climbed from a modest 2.3 percent in December 2020 to a peak of 13.6 percent in early 2023, the crisis was far more acute in the world’s poorest economies. In low-income countries, food price inflation skyrocketed to an alarming peak of 30 percent in May 2023.
Even as global food markets begin to stabilize, the long-term economic damage has left basic nutrition out of reach for hundreds of millions. Globally, the number of people unable to afford a healthy diet fell to 2.6 billion last year, down from 2.76 billion in 2019. Yet the situation worsened noticeably in vulnerable economic categories. In low-income countries, the number of individuals who could not afford a healthy diet rose to 545 million last year, compared to 464 million five years earlier. In lower-middle-income nations, excluding India, that figure increased from 791 million to 869 million over the same timeframe.
International financial and agricultural leaders argue that robust, targeted interventions are essential to reverse these trends and protect global stability.
"In times of rising food prices and disrupted global value chains, we must step up our investments in rural and agricultural transformation," said IFAD President Alvaro Lario. "These investments are not only essential for ensuring food and nutrition security—they are also critical for global stability."
To address these systemic vulnerabilities, the SOFI report recommends a comprehensive policy framework. Key measures include establishing transparent and credible monetary policies designed to contain inflationary pressures; implementing time-bound, targeted fiscal measures, such as robust social protection programs to shield vulnerable households; and making strategic investments in agrifood research, development, and market information systems. Additionally, the report stresses the importance of upgrading transportation and production infrastructure to boost long-term agricultural resilience and productivity.
The human cost of this ongoing crisis is felt most acutely by the youngest populations. UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell highlighted the profound developmental risks faced by children growing up amidst food insecurity.
"Every child deserves the chance to grow and thrive. Yet over 190 million children under the age of 5 are affected by undernutrition, which can have negative consequences for their physical and mental development," Russell said. "This robs them of the chance to live to their fullest potential. We must work in collaboration with governments, the private sector and communities themselves to ensure that vulnerable families have access to food that is affordable and with adequate nutrition for children to develop. That includes strengthening social protection programs and teaching parents about locally produced nutritious food for children, including the importance of breastfeeding, which provides the best start to a baby’s life."
