Hunger in the World: Global Improvement Contrasted by Deterioration in Africa and Western Asia
A report from United Nations organizations on “The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2025” reveals that the global hunger rate has decreased to 8.2% of the population, equivalent to approximately 673 million people in 2024, down from 8.5% in 2023 and 8.7% in 2022. However, this decline is uneven across different regions, with significant increases noted in some areas, particularly in Africa and Western Asia.
Progress in Asia and Latin America… and Deterioration in Africa
The report, presented in Addis Ababa during the second UN Food Systems Summit, highlighted that Africa shows the worst indicators, with over 307 million people suffering from hunger, accounting for more than 20% of the population. In Western Asia, the rate has risen to 12.7%, representing around 39 million individuals.
Conversely, South Asia and Latin America and the Caribbean have seen noticeable improvements, with malnutrition rates in Asia dropping to 6.7% in 2024, down from 7.9% in 2022, while in Latin America it fell to 5.1% compared to 6.1% at the peak of the crisis in 2020.
Challenges Impeding the Goal of Eradicating Hunger
Despite this progress, the report warns of the risk of failing to achieve the second Sustainable Development Goal, which aims to eliminate hunger entirely by 2030 if current trends persist. Estimates suggest that over 512 million individuals will still suffer from chronic hunger by that time, with about 60% in Africa alone.
Consequences of Food Inflation and Inequality
The report sheds light on the impact of food inflation between 2021 and 2023, driven by various factors, including the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, the war in Ukraine, and severe climate changes. The global food inflation rate peaked at 13.6% in January 2023, exceeding general inflation by five points.
Low-income countries have been most affected, with food inflation rates surpassing 30% in May 2023. Although the number of people unable to secure healthy food dropped from 2.76 billion in 2019 to 2.60 billion in 2024, the count in poorer countries increased from 464 to 545 million, and in lower-middle-income countries — excluding India — it reached about 869 million.
Call for Targeted Economic Policies
In light of these challenges, the report, prepared by FAO, IFAD, UNICEF, the World Food Programme, and WHO, calls for the adoption of targeted economic policies aimed at vulnerable populations, which include social protection programs, balanced cash measures, alongside sustainable investments in agricultural infrastructure, scientific research, and market information systems to strengthen the resilience of food systems in the long term.
