Global hunger declined for a third consecutive year in 2025, reaching 7.8 percent of the worldwide population, according to The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2026 report released by five United Nations specialized agencies. While the downward trend signals that steady progress remains possible, improvements are distributed unevenly across regions and fall short of what is required to achieve international targets by the end of the decade.
Approximately 645 million people faced hunger globally in 2025. This figure represents a reduction of nearly 14 million people compared to 2024 and 43 million fewer than in 2022, when 8.6 percent of the global population experienced undernourishment, according to data compiled by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the UN World Food Programme (WFP), and the World Health Organization (WHO).
Broader measures of food access show that 25.8 percent of the global population—roughly 2.1 billion people—experienced moderate or severe food insecurity in 2025. These individuals were forced at times to compromise on either the quality or quantity of the food they consumed. While this metric is down from 27.1 percent in 2024 and 28.7 percent in 2020, representing about 86 million fewer people than the previous year, global food insecurity remains above pre-pandemic levels.
Regional Disparities and Africa’s Growing Challenge
Recovery from ongoing food security crises varies sharply by geography. Asia and Latin America and the Caribbean have recorded steady improvements in recent years, but Africa faces mounting pressure due to rapid population growth. In 2025, Africa became home to approximately 309 million hungry people, surpassing Asia’s total of 292 million.
Although the share of Africa’s population facing hunger decreased slightly from 20.3 percent in 2024 to 20.0 percent in 2025, the continent records the highest absolute number of undernourished individuals. Regional disparities are equally pronounced in broader food security metrics; more than half of Africa’s population—56.6 percent—faced moderate or severe food insecurity in 2025. By comparison, moderate or severe food insecurity affected 20.3 percent of people in Asia, 22.9 percent in Latin America and the Caribbean, and 8.7 percent in Northern America and Europe.
Across all regions, food insecurity remains more prevalent in rural areas than in urban and peri-urban locations. Women continue to be disproportionately affected by food access challenges, though the global gender gap narrowed slightly in 2025.
The Rising Cost of a Healthy Diet
Financial barriers remain a primary obstacle to achieving SDG 2 (Zero Hunger). The average global cost of a healthy diet—defined as the minimum expenditure required to obtain locally available foods that meet energy and nutrient requirements—rose to 4.28 purchasing power parity (PPP) dollars per person per day in 2025, up from 3.44 PPP dollars in 2021 and 2.94 PPP dollars in 2017.
Latin America and the Caribbean recorded the highest average cost at 4.91 PPP dollars per day. Simultaneously, the global population unable to afford a healthy diet declined from 2.97 billion people (37.4 percent) in 2021 to 2.69 billion people (32.7 percent) in 2025. However, affordability worsened sharply in Africa, where 66.6 percent of the population could not afford a healthy diet in 2025, more than double the proportion observed in Asia or Latin America and the Caribbean.
Structural differences in agrifood systems dictate these costs. Animal-source foods, fruits, and vegetables account for the largest share of expenses. Animal-source foods drive costs highest in Africa, whereas vegetables represent the largest financial share in Latin America and the Caribbean. Furthermore, post-farmgate activities—including processing, logistics, and wholesale—account for 70 to 75 percent of what consumers pay.
Projections and Nutrition Target Deficits
The annual assessment provides updated five-year projections factoring in the 2026 conflict in the Middle East, which has driven up food inflation through higher energy and fertilizer prices. Depending on the duration of these economic shocks, approximately 510 to 520 million people may still face hunger in 2030, compared to a pre-conflict baseline projection of 503 million. Additional disruptors, such as El Niño weather extremes anticipated in 2026 and 2027, were not factored into these models and could further threaten stability.
Global progress on maternal and child nutrition also lags behind international targets. Child stunting affects 150 million children under five globally, while only 30.8 percent of infants aged 6 to 23 months consume a minimally diverse diet. Adult obesity has steadily increased from 12.1 percent in 2012 to 16.2 percent in 2024, missing targets to halt its rise by 2025. Meanwhile, rates of anemia among women aged 15 to 49 continue to worsen across nearly all regions.
UN agency leaders emphasize that reversing these trends requires coordinated policy interventions. FAO Director-General QU Dongyu noted that ending hunger demands sustained investment and political commitment amid ongoing supply chain disruptions. IFAD President Alvaro Lario stressed the necessity of building resilient rural economies and value chains, while UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell highlighted that food systems must integrate closely with health, education, and social protection frameworks. WFP Acting Executive Director Carl Skau and WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus similarly underscored that protecting vulnerable families from climate and conflict shocks requires robust public health policies, equitable food distribution, and long-term financial backing.
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