Published on: 2026-07-21
Source: United Nations – United Nations –
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July 21, 2026 Humanitarian Aid
The number of people suffering from hunger worldwide has been decreasing for the third consecutive year. However, this progress remains too slow and extremely uneven, and armed conflicts, climate shocks, and reductions in international aid could negate it. This conclusion was reached by the authors of the new UN report “The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World” (SOFI 2026).
According to a study prepared by the FAO, the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), UNICEF, the World Food Programme (WFP), and the World Health Organization (WHO), in 2025 about 645 million people, or 7.8 percent of the world’s population, experienced hunger. This is almost 14 million fewer than the previous year and 43 million fewer than in 2022.
At the same time, improvements are distributed extremely unevenly. The greatest progress has been achieved in Asia, where the number of hungry people has decreased to 292 million. Together with Latin America and the Caribbean, Asia has become the main driver of global improvement. In Africa, despite a slight decrease in the proportion of the hungry population, due to the rapid growth in population, the continent has taken first place in absolute numbers of people suffering from undernourishment. Today, there are about 309 million hungry people here.
The report’s authors emphasize that the problem goes far beyond chronic hunger. In 2025, about 2.1 billion people experienced moderate or severe food insecurity, meaning they were forced to regularly reduce the amount of food or give up higher-quality products.
FAO Director-General Qu Dongyu believes that the current successes should not make the global community complacent: “The report shows that progress is possible, but we must move faster. Eradicating hunger and ensuring access to healthy nutrition require political will, sustained investments, and effective public policies. Recent crises – from natural disasters such as the COVID-19 pandemic, to human-made catastrophes including armed conflicts, the war in Ukraine, the crisis in Gaza, and recent disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz region – have demonstrated both the resilience of agri-food systems and the need to further strengthen them for the most vulnerable people, farmers, and consumers.”
The authors pay special attention to the consequences of the current conflict in the Middle East. If it continues to contribute to the rise in energy and fertilizer prices, then by 2030 the number of hungry people could reach 510–520 million, which is higher than forecasts made before the crisis began. At the same time, the possible consequences of extreme weather events, including El Niño, are not yet included in these estimates.
The situation with the cost of healthy food remains no less alarming. Last year, its average price rose to $4.28 per person per day at purchasing power parity. Although the number of people unable to afford a full diet has decreased to 2.69 billion, this still accounts for almost one in three inhabitants of the planet. The most difficult situation remains in Africa, where two-thirds of the population cannot afford healthy food.
The President of the International Fund for Agricultural Development, Alvaro Lario, emphasized that the key to solving the problem should be investments in modern food supply chains: “SOFI shows that the cost of healthy eating continues to rise and that nearly 2.7 billion people still cannot afford a full diet. Sustainable production and supply chains must become a central part of the solution. Our task now is to turn the report’s data into investments and do this through partnership. Together we can create such supply chains, market systems, and rural economy that ensure access to healthy food for all.”
Experts note that the lion’s share of the cost of products is formed after the harvest leaves the field. Between 70 and 75 percent of the price paid by the buyer goes to processing, transportation, storage, and trade. Therefore, the development of infrastructure, cold chains, and logistics can significantly reduce the cost of fresh and nutritious products.
The authors of the report also draw attention to the persistent problems of child and maternal nutrition. About 150 million children under five years old suffer from stunted growth due to chronic malnutrition, and only 30.8 percent of children aged six to 23 months receive sufficiently diverse nutrition. At the same time, the prevalence of obesity among adults continues to increase worldwide, and the number of women suffering from anemia is growing.
Acting Executive Director of the World Food Programme Karl Skau reminded that behind the dry statistics lie the fates of millions of people: “Behind every figure in this report is a family trying to cope with rising food prices. Conflicts and climate shocks make healthy nutrition even less accessible for them. We must continue to work together with our partners, governments, and local communities to create food systems capable of withstanding crises, so that families can afford a full diet even in the toughest times. Sustainable investments matching the scale of this challenge are needed now.”
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus emphasized that the solution to the problem has long been known.
“While we welcome the obvious progress in reducing hunger, healthy nutrition remains inaccessible to every third person on the planet. The prevalence of obesity is rising, and progress in improving the nutrition of mothers and children is slowing,” he said. “But we know what works: policies that make healthy food the easy choice.” According to the head of WHO, breastfeeding, taxes on unhealthy foods, and protecting children from intrusive advertising help fight obesity.
The authors of the report acknowledge that the world still has a very long way to go before achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goal of eradicating hunger by 2030. However, the current reduction in the number of hungry people demonstrates that with political will and international cooperation, it is indeed possible to change the situation.
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