World hunger affects 645 million people, says UN report

The world population facing hunger decreased for the third consecutive year and reached, in 2025, 645 million people, representing a reduction of almost 14 million people who suffered from hunger compared to 2024 and 43 million compared to 2022. The information is contained in the report The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2026 (SOFI, its acronym in English), prepared by five institutions: the FAO itself, the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), the World Health Organization (WHO), the World Food Program (WFP) and the United Nations Children's Fund (Unicef). Related news: Black women's homes are most affected by food insecurity. East Africa: Severe food insecurity threatens more than 50 million.

USA: war in Ukraine could increase global food insecurity. The global hunger assessment calculates that 7.8% of the world's population suffered from hunger in 2025. In 2026, this rate was 8.6%. Percentage that fell to 8.1%, in 2024. The data was released this Tuesday (21), at the FAO headquarters, in Rome (Italy), during the 30th Session of the organization's Agriculture Committee.

To those present at the event, the director general of FAO, QU Dongyu, emphasized that we need to move faster. “Ending hunger and making healthy diets accessible requires political commitment, sustained investment and policies that facilitate it. In a speech at the 30th Session of the FAO Agriculture Committee, the Minister of Agrarian Development and Family Agriculture (MDA) of Brazil, Fernanda Machiaveli, highlighted that hunger is preventable.

“When governments prioritize the fight against hunger, poverty and inequality, it is possible to achieve concrete progress. Food insecurity The 2026 global report also highlights that there has been global progress in the number of people living in moderate or severe food insecurity. This condition of extreme vulnerability occurs when people consume food in insufficient quantity for a healthy life or food with lower nutritional quality.

The FAO estimates that 25.8% of the world's population (around 2.1 billion people) lived in a situation of moderate or severe food insecurity by 2025. The percentage represents a drop compared to 27.1% in 2024 and 28.7% in 2020 – almost 86 million less than in 2024 and 135 million less than in 2020 – although it is still above the levels pre-pandemic. Continental disparities Despite the continued reduction in hunger levels, recovery is uneven across continents. The main annual publication on hunger in the world indicates that, while Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean have shown gradual improvements over the last three years, Africa is currently the continent with the highest absolute number of hungry people, in a context of rapid population growth, says FAO.

It is estimated that one in five people in Africa, i.e. 20% will face hunger in 2025, which corresponds to around 309 million hungry people in Africa. In 2024, this rate was slightly higher: 20.3% of the population. When assessing the situation of moderate or severe food insecurity, in 2025, more than half of the African population (56.6%) lived in this condition, compared to 22.9% in Latin America and the Caribbean, 8.7% in North America and Europe, and 20.3% in Asia.

Most vulnerable Food insecurity also remains higher in rural areas than in urban areas and peripheries, while women continue to be disproportionately affected, although the gender gap will have narrowed slightly in 2025. Globally, only 62.7% of women aged 15 to 49 years have achieved the minimum dietary diversity prioritized in healthy consumption between 2021 and 2025, meaning that around one in three women on the planet have not achieved it. On a continental scale, the lowest prevalence of eating diversity disorder in women was observed in Africa (43%), followed by Asia (65%) and Latin America and the Caribbean (77.5%). While the highest dietary diversity was recorded in North America and Europe (79.8%).

Pace of advancement Global advances in the nutrition of mothers and children are slow and marginal, which threatens the achievement of international targets set for 2030. Only 30.8% of children between 6 and 23 months in the world consume a minimally diversified diet. Among the main warning indicators are: · severe child malnutrition: 150 million children under the age of 5 still suffer from stunted growth; · anemia in women: The condition of anemia among women of childbearing age (15 to 49 years) is worsening globally.