Global Hunger Falls Again, but Progress Remains Slow

Global hunger declined for a third consecutive year in 2025, demonstrating that progress is possible. However, the gains remain fragile and far too slow to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) target of ending hunger by 2030.

The warning came in the latest edition of The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World (SOFI) report, released on Tuesday by five United Nations agencies.

According to the report, 7.8 per cent of the global population—about 645 million people—experienced hunger in 2025.

This marks a decline from 8.1 per cent in 2024 and 8.6 per cent in 2022, representing nearly 14 million fewer hungry people than in 2024 and 43 million fewer than in 2022.

Uneven Progress

Despite the overall improvement, progress remains uneven across regions.

While Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean have continued to reduce hunger in recent years, Africa now has the largest number of undernourished people for the first time.

In 2025, around 309 million people in Africa experienced hunger, compared with 292 million in Asia.

Although Africa's hunger rate declined slightly from 20.3 per cent in 2024 to 20.0 per cent in 2025, rapid population growth has resulted in the continent recording the highest absolute number of hungry people.

Food Insecurity Remains High

Broader measures of food access paint a similar picture.

In 2025, about 2.1 billion people—equivalent to 25.8 per cent of the world's population—experienced moderate or severe food insecurity, meaning they were forced at times to reduce either the quality or quantity of the food they consumed.

Although this represents an improvement compared with 2024 and 2020, the figure remains above pre-pandemic levels.

Africa continued to face the greatest burden, with 56.6 per cent of its population experiencing moderate or severe food insecurity, compared with 20.3 per cent in Asia, 22.9 per cent in Latin America and the Caribbean, and 8.7 per cent in Northern America and Europe.

Conflict, Climate and Rising Costs

The annual SOFI report is jointly published by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), UNICEF, the World Food Programme (WFP) and the World Health Organization (WHO).

The agencies warned that conflicts, particularly in the Middle East, alongside extreme weather events and reductions in development and humanitarian funding, threaten to reverse recent progress.

FAO Chief Economist Máximo Torero said the ongoing crisis around the Strait of Hormuz could affect food production, crop yields and global hunger through higher energy and fertiliser prices.

"Depending on how long the crisis continues to fuel food inflation, our projections suggest that between 510 million and 520 million people could still be facing hunger by 2030," he said.

The projections do not include the potential effects of extreme weather events, including a possible El Niño pattern in 2026 and 2027, which could further worsen the situation.

Nutrition Challenges Persist

The report says progress towards global nutrition targets remains insufficient.

Indicators such as child stunting, wasting, overweight, low birth weight and exclusive breastfeeding have improved only marginally, while anaemia among women aged 15 to 49 continues to worsen.

Adult obesity is also increasing, rising from 12.1 per cent in 2012 to 16.2 per cent in 2024.

Meanwhile, only 30.8 per cent of children aged six to 23 months receive a minimally diverse diet, while around 150 million children under the age of five remain stunted.

Healthy Diets Still Out of Reach

The report also found that the average global cost of a healthy diet increased to 4.28 purchasing power parity dollars per person per day in 2025, up from 3.44 dollars in 2021 and 2.94 dollars in 2017.

Despite rising costs, the number of people unable to afford a healthy diet fell from 2.97 billion in 2021 to 2.69 billion in 2025.

However, major regional disparities remain.

In Africa, 66.6 per cent of the population could not afford a healthy diet in 2025—more than double the proportion recorded in Asia and Latin America and the Caribbean.

The report stressed that reducing food prices alone will not solve the problem because processing, transport, storage and wholesale activities account for between 70 and 75 per cent of the final cost consumers pay for food.

The UN agencies called for targeted investments in infrastructure, agricultural research, irrigation, cold-chain systems and market reforms to make healthy diets more affordable and accessible.

"The work that lies ahead to 2030 is immense," the report said. "However, a world in which a healthy diet is no longer out of reach for nearly one in three people is a world worth building."