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Global hunger fell for a third consecutive year in the latest UN estimate, but the improvement is far too small to put the world on track to end hunger by 2030. In 2025, about 645 million people—7.8% of the global population—were undernourished. A separate, broader measure found 2.1 billion people experienced moderate or severe food insecurity. These figures describe different problems and cannot be added together.
What the latest numbers say about hunger
The latest global estimates are in the UN agencies’ State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2026 (SOFI 2026), published in July 2026 and reporting primarily on 2025. The report estimates that 7.8% of the global population, or around 645 million people, experienced hunger in 2025. The estimated prevalence was 8.1% in 2024 and 8.6% in 2022. That is three consecutive years of decline in the global estimate—not evidence that hunger fell everywhere or for every group.
SOFI also estimates that around 2.1 billion people, or 25.8% of the global population, experienced moderate or severe food insecurity in 2025. This broader measure includes people who sometimes had to reduce the quality or quantity of their food. It captures hardship that does not necessarily meet the definition of chronic undernourishment.
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Three measures that should not be confused
| Measure | What it describes | Latest figure in the cited sources |
|---|---|---|
| Prevalence of undernourishment | SOFI’s estimate of chronic hunger in the population. | About 645 million people, or 7.8% of the world population, in 2025; FAO and four other UN agencies, 2026. |
| Moderate or severe food insecurity | People facing constrained or uncertain access to adequate food, including occasions when they compromise food quality or quantity. | About 2.1 billion people, or 25.8% of the world population, in 2025; FAO and four other UN agencies, 2026. |
| Acute food insecurity, IPC/CH Phase 3 or above | People in assessed food-crisis countries and territories facing acute crisis or worse. It is a different framework and scope from SOFI’s global chronic-hunger estimate. | 295 million people across 53 countries and territories in 2024; FAO, 2026. |
WFP’s 2026 mid-year outlook puts acute hunger at 266 million people across food-crisis countries. That outlook has a different time frame and country scope from both SOFI’s global undernourishment estimate and FAO’s 2024 IPC/Cadre Harmonisé total; the figures should not be treated as a single series.
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Why the 2030 goal is slipping
Hunger is not simply a measure of how much food the world grows. People may go without adequate food when conflict disrupts access, when food prices outpace incomes, or when a shock destroys crops and livelihoods. These forces can reinforce one another: insecurity can displace households and interrupt markets, while poor harvests and higher costs make food less affordable.
Conflict and insecurity cut off food and livelihoods
Conflict displaces people, disrupts production and trade, damages livelihoods, pushes up prices and can prevent humanitarian organizations from reaching those in need. In FAO’s figures on the main drivers of acute food insecurity, conflict was the primary driver for 140 million people in 2024, compared with 74 million in 2018. These are acute-crisis driver figures, not a breakdown of everyone counted as undernourished worldwide.
Economic shocks make food unaffordable
Food can be available in a market and still be out of reach for a household without enough income. SOFI 2026 focuses on the cost of a healthy diet and on structural and economic forces that shape access to nutritious food. Energy and fertilizer costs can also feed into food inflation. In FAO’s acute-crisis driver figures, economic shocks were the main driver for 59 million people in 2024, up from 10 million in 2018.
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Droughts, floods and heatwaves can damage crops, infrastructure and household livelihoods. FAO reported weather extremes as the main driver of acute food insecurity for 96 million people in 2024, compared with 29 million in 2018. Weather risks often compound conflict and low purchasing power rather than acting alone.
Displacement and unequal access deepen exposure
Displaced people may lose work, shelter and access to food while depending more heavily on assistance. Rural communities, women and young people can face disproportionate exposure to food insecurity. Globally, women remained more affected than men in 2025, although the gap narrowed slightly, according to SOFI 2026.
Protracted crises face severe funding constraints
By November 2025, the Global Humanitarian Overview had received USD 11.5 billion of the USD 45 billion it required—about one quarter—according to FAO’s 2026 appeal. FAO also reports that 35 countries and territories had appeared in every Global Report on Food Crises for nine years; these protracted crises accounted for more than 80% of people in IPC/CH Phase 3 or above. These funding and crisis figures are dated snapshots, not a current-year funding total.
Why global averages hide uneven progress
Rates and headcounts answer different questions. A prevalence rate shows what share of a region’s population is affected; an absolute count shows how many people that represents. Population growth can leave a region with a very large or growing number of people facing hunger even as its rate edges down.
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In 2025, Africa had about 309 million people experiencing hunger, compared with 292 million in Asia. Africa’s hunger prevalence declined from 20.3% in 2024 to 20.0% in 2025, but its absolute number remained the largest. Food insecurity rates also varied sharply across regions:
| Region | Population experiencing moderate or severe food insecurity in 2025 |
|---|---|
| Africa | 56.6% |
| Asia | 20.3% |
| Latin America and the Caribbean | 22.9% |
| Northern America and Europe | 8.7% |
Regional figures are from FAO and four other UN agencies’ 2026 estimates. A global decline therefore does not mean that the burden is shared evenly or that each region is improving at the same pace.
What the 2030 projection does—and does not—mean
SOFI 2026 estimates that 510–520 million people may still face hunger in 2030, depending on how long the Middle East conflict’s food-inflation impact lasts. In a pre-conflict scenario, the estimate was 503 million. This is a conditional projection, not a forecast that is certain to occur or a promise about the outcome.
The projection does not incorporate possible effects of weather extremes such as El Niño in 2026 and 2027, according to the report. It should therefore be read with that limitation in mind; it does not capture every way future shocks could alter hunger.
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No single intervention can address an emergency, restore livelihoods and make nutritious food affordable at once. A workable response combines immediate assistance with measures that protect incomes, improve food access and make local food systems more resilient.
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Protect humanitarian access and pursue peace
Political and diplomatic efforts to reduce conflict, alongside safe and unrestricted humanitarian access across borders and conflict lines, are essential to getting assistance to people in danger. Access constraints can make food available in principle but unreachable in practice.
Deliver food and nutrition assistance where needs are acute
Food and nutrition assistance can save lives in emergencies, especially for displaced people and communities affected by conflict. It remains urgent where people face acute food insecurity or famine conditions. Immediate relief addresses urgent need; it is not a substitute for restoring livelihoods or improving long-term access to food.
Use social protection to help households afford food
Cash transfers and national safety nets can help households manage food costs and can support local economies. Social protection works best as part of a wider approach that also addresses nutrition and resilience, rather than as a stand-alone fix for disrupted supply or unsafe access.
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Pair agricultural and livelihood support with relief
Support for local production can contribute to food availability, household incomes and markets, and may reduce dependence on repeated external deliveries. FAO’s 2026 appeal recommends scaling and sequencing agricultural solutions alongside food and nutrition assistance. The right mix depends on local conditions: whether people can safely farm, what inputs and services are accessible, how markets are functioning and how quickly households need help.
Invest in adaptation and resilient food systems
Climate adaptation for smallholder farmers and more resilient food systems can reduce exposure to weather shocks. Early-warning and anticipatory-action programs can enable action before a forecast hazard causes deeper harm. These measures complement, rather than replace, emergency response when people already lack food.
Make nutritious diets more affordable
Reducing hunger also means improving access to nutritious food, not only supplying calories. SOFI 2026 places the cost of a healthy diet and the structural conditions shaping access at the center of its analysis. The related nutrition challenge is visible in a separate indicator: adult obesity prevalence rose from 12.1% in 2012 to 16.2% in 2024, according to FAO, IFAD, UNICEF, WFP and WHO. Obesity is not a measure of hunger, but it underscores why food-system responses must consider diet quality as well as quantity.
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Assistance is not one-size-fits-all. The choice should reflect how urgent the need is, whether people can safely reach markets and whether local supply is functioning.
| Approach | Best suited to | Key considerations |
|---|---|---|
| Emergency food assistance | Urgent food needs, especially where markets are disrupted or people cannot safely access them. | Speed, safe delivery and whether aid can reach people across conflict lines or borders. |
| Agricultural and livelihood support | Contexts where people can safely produce food or restore livelihoods and local markets can function. | Local assessment of land access, security, inputs, services and the time households can wait for results. |
| Cash support | Contexts where households can reach markets and enough food is available to buy. | Market supply, local prices, safe delivery and whether recipients can make meaningful choices. |
| In-kind food assistance | Contexts where markets cannot reliably supply food or households cannot obtain it safely. | Delivery access, suitable food and how the assistance interacts with local supply and distribution. |
Cash gives households choice only when goods are available and accessible; food delivery is most useful when local markets cannot meet urgent needs. Agricultural support can help rebuild livelihoods, but it cannot replace immediate assistance when households are already facing severe shortages.
Why spending and waste are not simple solutions
Global public spending on agriculture reached $725 billion in 2024, while agriculture’s share of government spending fell from 2.09% in 2015 to 1.83% in 2024, according to the United Nations Statistics Division. The total amount spent and the sector’s share of public budgets are different indicators; neither alone shows how effectively spending reaches food-insecure households or improves diets.
WFP estimates that around 30% of global food production is lost or wasted each year; its explainer does not state a publication year for that figure. Reducing losses and waste can help, but this estimate does not mean that eliminating waste alone would end hunger. Access, affordability, conflict, displacement and the ability to sustain livelihoods also shape who can obtain food.
How famine fits into the picture
Famine is a severe acute condition, not another name for widespread hunger. WFP’s explainer summarizes famine thresholds as two deaths per 10,000 people per day from starvation or disease plus malnutrition, 20% of households facing extreme food shortages, and 30% of children suffering acute malnutrition. A short summary is not enough to make an operational or legal determination: that requires consulting the applicable, current IPC analysis.
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