UN Report Finds Global Hunger Declined in 2025 but Progress Remains Uneven
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Global hunger declined for the third consecutive year in 2025, but progress remains fragile and uneven, according to the 2026 edition of The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World (SOFI 2026) report released Tuesday by five United Nations agencies.
The report estimates that 7.8% of the world’s population experienced hunger in 2025, down from 8.1% in 2024 and 8.6% in 2022. About 645 million people were affected by hunger last year, a reduction of nearly 14 million compared with 2024 and 43 million compared with 2022.
Despite global improvements, the report found significant regional differences. Asia, along with Latin America and the Caribbean, has continued to see progress, while Africa now has the highest number of people facing hunger, with approximately 309 million affected compared with 292 million in Asia.
The share of Africa’s population experiencing hunger declined slightly from 20.3% in 2024 to 20% in 2025, but population growth has contributed to the continent having the largest number of people affected.
The report also found that about 2.1 billion people, or 25.8% of the global population, experienced moderate or severe food insecurity in 2025. That figure declined from 27.1% in 2024 and 28.7% in 2020 but remains above pre-pandemic levels.
Regional disparities continue, with 56.6% of Africa’s population experiencing moderate or severe food insecurity in 2025, compared with 20.3% in Asia, 22.9% in Latin America and the Caribbean, and 8.7% in North America and Europe. Rural communities and women continue to face higher levels of food insecurity.
The report, jointly prepared by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, the International Fund for Agricultural Development, UNICEF, the United Nations World Food Programme and the World Health Organization, warned that conflicts, extreme weather events and reductions in development and humanitarian funding could threaten future progress.
Updated projections accounting for the impact of the Middle East conflict estimate that between 510 million and 520 million people could still face hunger in 2030, depending on the duration of food price pressures caused by higher energy and fertilizer costs.
The report also highlighted slow progress on global nutrition goals. Indicators related to child stunting, wasting, overweight, low birthweight and breastfeeding are improving too slowly to meet 2030 targets. Meanwhile, anemia among women ages 15 to 49 is increasing, and adult obesity has risen from 1
The cost of maintaining a healthy diet remains a major challenge, according to the report. The average global cost of a healthy diet increased to $4.28 per person per day in purchasing power parity (PPP) terms in 2025, up from $3.44 in 2021 and $2.94 in 2017.
The highest cost was recorded in Latin America and the Caribbean at $4.91 PPP per person per day. Despite rising costs, the number of people unable to afford a healthy diet declined from 2.97 billion in 2021 to 2.69 billion in 2025.
However, affordability worsened significantly in Africa, where 66.6% of the population could not afford a healthy diet in 2025, more than twice the levels reported in Asia and Latin America and the Caribbean.
The report said food value chains play a major role in determining prices, with post-farm activities such as processing, transportation and wholesale accounting for a significant share of consumer costs. It recommended investments in infrastructure, research, irrigation, cold storage systems and policy reforms to improve access to nutritious foods.
Leaders from the five UN agencies said continued investment and cooperation will be necessary to address hunger and nutrition challenges worldwide.
FAO Director-General Qu Dongyu said recent crises have demonstrated the need to strengthen food systems and ensure they better serve vulnerable populations, farmers and consumers.
“Ending hunger and making healthy diets affordable requires political commitment, sustained investment and enabling policies,” Qu said.
WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said healthy diets should be accessible to everyone and called for policies promoting nutritious foods, breastfeeding, labeling requirements and protections against unhealthy food marketing.
The SOFI 2026 report emphasized that achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal of ending hunger by 2030 will require accelerated action and long-term investments in resilient food systems.
