According to the Global Hunger Index 2024, which was adopted by the International Food Policy Research Institute, Somalia was the most affected by hunger and malnutrition, with an index of 44.1. Yemen and Chad followed behind. The World Hunger Index combines three indicators: undernourishment, child underweight, and child mortality. Sub-Saharan Africa most affected The index is dominated by countries in Sub-Saharan Africa. In the region, more than one fifth of the population is undernourished . In terms of individuals, however, South Asia has the highest number of undernourished people. Globally, there are 735 million people that are considered undernourished or starving. A lack of food is increasing in over 20 countries worldwide. Undernourishment worldwide The term malnutrition includes both undernutrition and overnutrition. Undernutrition occurs when an individual cannot maintain normal bodily functions such as growth, recovering from disease, and both learning and physical work. Some conditions such as diarrhea, malaria, and HIV/AIDS can all have a negative impact on undernutrition. Rural and agricultural communities can be especially susceptible to hunger during certain seasons. The annual hunger gap occurs when a family’s food supply may run out before the next season’s harvest is available and can result in malnutrition. Nevertheless, the prevalence of people worldwide that are undernourished has decreased over the last decades, from 18.7 percent in 1990-92 to 9.2 percent in 2022, but it has slightly increased since the outbreak of COVID-19. According to the Global Hunger Index, the reduction of global hunger has stagnated over the past decade.

According to the Global Hunger Index 2024, hunger worldwide decreased since 2000, but the pace of the reduction has slowed since 2016. In the Middle East and North Africa, for instance, the hunger index value was the same in 2024 as in 2016, and it had even increased marginally in Latin America and the Caribbean. In 2024, Somalia had the highest index score worldwide, meaning it was the country where hunger was most prevalent. The World Hunger Index combines four indicators: undernourishment, child stunting, child wasting, and child mortality.

The Global Hunger Index (GHI) is a tool designed to comprehensively measure and track hunger globally and by region and country. Calculated each year by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), the GHI highlights successes and failures in hunger reduction and provide insights into the drivers of hunger, and food and nutrition security. The 2014 GHI has been calculated for 120 countries for which data on the three component indicators are available and for which measuring hung er is considered most relevant. The GHI calculation excludes some higher income countries because the prevalence of hunger there is very low. The GHI is only as current as the data for its three component indicators. This year's GHI reflects the most recent available country level data for the three component indicators spanning the period 2009 to 2013. Besides the most recent GHI scores, this dataset also contains the GHI scores for four other reference periods- 1990, 1995, 2000, and 2005. A country's GHI score is calculated by averaging the percentage of the population that is undernourished, the percentage of children youn ger than five years old who are underweight, and the percentage of children dying before the age of five. This calculation results in a 100 point scale on which zero is the best score (no hunger) and 100 the worst, although neither of these extremes is reached in practice. The three component indicators used to calculate the GHI scores draw upon data from the following sources: 1. Undernourishment: Updated data from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) were used for the 1990, 1995, 2000, 2005, and 2014GHI scores. Undernourishment data for the 2014 GHI are for 2011-2013. 2. Child underweight: The "child underweight" component indicator of the GHI scores includes the latest additions to the World Health Organization's (WHO) Global Database on Child Growth and Malnutrition, and additional data from the joint data base by the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), WHO and the World Bank; the most recent Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) and Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey reports; and statistical tables from UNICEF. For the 2014 GHI, data on child underweight are for the latest year for which data are available in the period 2009-2014. 3. Child mortality: Updated data from the UN Inter-agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation were used for the 1990, 1995, 2000, and 2005, and 2014 GHI scores. For the 2014 GHI, data on child mortality are for 2012. Resources related to 2014 Global Hunger Index

Recent years have seen an increase in the amount of people suffering from undernourishment around the world. This is a reversal of the trend which had seen declining numbers till 2014. In 2023, almost 734 million people were undernourished around the world. Undernourishment is defined as the status of persons, whose food intake regularly provides less than their minimum energy requirements.

Historical chart and dataset showing Italy hunger statistics by year from 2001 to 2022.

According to the Global Hunger Index, India had an index value of **** in 2023. The composition of the index was a combination of different indicators such as undernourishment, child underweight, and child mortality. India's score indicates a serious level of hunger crisis, placing the country at a position of ***** out of 121 countries that year. However, the country had improved the situation from ** index points falling in the category of alarming level in 2000.

The hunger rate represents the share of the people in a country below a fraction of a cost of basic needs poverty line. The fraction used by FAO is 52%, and I use that value for 2018. For years before and up to 1820 I linearly interpolate using a 80% value for 1820. The dynamic caloric requirement that is used to estimate the food component follows the FAO guidelines, and it is estimated based on height data from Clio Infra, and age-gender population distributions from UN and Mitchell. The protein content is 0.83 gr per kg of body weight. The estimates cover the period 1820-2018 (yearly). It is expressed as a share, from 0 to 1.

Historical chart and dataset showing Brazil hunger statistics by year from 2001 to 2022.

This dataset measures food availability and access for 76 low- and middle-income countries. The dataset includes annual country-level data on area, yield, production, nonfood use, trade, and consumption for grains and root and tuber crops (combined as R&T in the documentation tables), food aid, total value of imports and exports, gross domestic product, and population compiled from a variety of sources. This dataset is the basis for the International Food Security Assessment 2015-2025 released in June 2015. This annual ERS report projects food availability and access for 76 low- and middle-income countries over a 10-year period. Countries (Spatial Description, continued): Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gambia, Georgia, Ghana, Guatemala, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Haiti, Honduras, India, Indonesia, Jamaica, Kenya, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Lesotho, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Moldova, Mongolia, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Nepal, Nicaragua, Niger, Nigeria, North Korea, Pakistan, Peru, Philippines, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Swaziland, Tajikistan, Tanzania, Togo, Tunisia, Turkmenistan, Uganda, Uzbekistan, Vietnam, Yemen, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. Resources in this dataset:Resource Title: CSV File for all years and all countries. File Name: gfa25.csvResource Title: International Food Security country data. File Name: GrainDemandProduction.xlsxResource Description: Excel files of individual country data. Please note that these files provide the data in a different layout from the CSV file. This version of the data files was updated 9-2-2021

More up-to-date files may be found at: https://www.ers.usda.gov/data-products/international-food-security.aspx

In 2024, Zambia had the highest ranking Global Hunger Index (GHI) within Southern African at 30.7, indicating a serious hunger situation. The country has experienced its worst drought in decades, which has led to food and water being scarce. South Africa scored the lowest GHI in the region, with a score of 12.5, representing a moderate food insecurity.

Historical chart and dataset showing Thailand hunger statistics by year from 2001 to 2022.

this graph was created in R:

https://www.googleapis.com/download/storage/v1/b/kaggle-user-content/o/inbox%2F16731800%2F99ddcc7060665597ad9b1c263aa8174d%2Fgraph1.gif?generation=1717872782993200&alt=media" alt="">

https://www.googleapis.com/download/storage/v1/b/kaggle-user-content/o/inbox%2F16731800%2Ff7af5fc372d601a18645c41c37411157%2Fgraph2.gif?generation=1717872788516258&alt=media" alt="">

https://www.googleapis.com/download/storage/v1/b/kaggle-user-content/o/inbox%2F16731800%2Fc85d9de1d5b88949298afa0bab1d9406%2Fgraph3.gif?generation=1717872793749722&alt=media" alt="">

Having enough to eat is one of the fundamental basic human needs. Hunger – or, more formally, undernourishment – is defined as eating less than the energy required to maintain an active and healthy life.

The share of undernourished people is the leading indicator for food security and nutrition used by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.

The fight against hunger focuses on a sufficient energy intake – enough calories per person per day. But it is not the only factor that matters for a healthy diet. Sufficient protein, fats, and micronutrients are also essential, and we cover this in our topic page on micronutrient deficiencies.

Undernourishment in mothers and children is a leading risk factor for death and other poor health outcomes.

The UN has set a global target as part of the Sustainable Development Goals to “end hunger by 2030“. While the world has progressed in past decades, we are far from reaching this target.

On this page, you can find our data, visualizations, and writing on hunger and undernourishment. It looks at how many people are undernourished, where they are, and other metrics used to track food security.

Hunger – also known as undernourishment – is defined as not consuming enough calories to maintain a normal, active, healthy life.

The world has made much progress in reducing global hunger in recent decades — we will see this in the following key insight. But we are still far away from an end to hunger. Tragically, nearly one-in-ten people still do not get enough food to eat.

The share of the undernourished population is shown globally and by region in the chart.

You can see that rates of hunger are highest in Sub-Saharan Africa. South Asia has much higher rates than the Americas and East Asia. Rates in North America and Europe are below 2.5%. However, the FAO shows this as “2.5%” rather than the specific point estimate.

In 2024, Somalia had the highest ranking Global Hunger Index (GHI) within Eastern African at 44.1, indicating an alarming hunger situation. The country has experienced heavy rainfall and flooding after an extended period of drought, which has led to food insecurity as a result. Mauritius scored the lowest GHI in the region, with a score of 12.8, representing a moderate foo insecurity.

The Global Hunger Index ranks countries on a 100 point scale, with 0 being the best score ("no hunger") and 100 being the worst, though neither of these extremes is achieved in practice. The higher the score, the worse the food situation of a country. The GHI combines three equally weighted indicators: 1) the proportion of the undernourished as a percentage of the population; 2) the prevalence of underweight children under the age of five; 3) the mortality rate of children under the age of five.

Historical chart and dataset showing Sierra Leone hunger statistics by year from 2001 to 2022.

Historical chart and dataset showing Spain hunger statistics by year from 2001 to 2022.

Financial overview and grant giving statistics of Global Hunger Foundation

Goal 2: End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agricultureGlobally, the proportion of undernourished people in the developing regions has fallen by almost half since 1990, from 23.3% in 1990-1992 to 12.9% in 2014-2016. However, one in nine people in the world today (795 million) are still undernourished.The vast majority of the world’s hungry people live in developing countries, where 12.9% of the population is undernourished.Asia is the continent with the hungriest people – two-thirds of the total. The percentage in southern Asia has fallen in recent years, but in western Asia it has increased slightly.Sub-Saharan Africa is the region with the highest prevalence (percentage of population) of hunger. About one person in four there is undernourished.Poor nutrition causes nearly half (45%) of deaths in children under five – 3.1 million children each year.One in four of the world’s children suffer stunted growth. In developing countries the proportion rises to one in three.66 million primary school-age children in developing countries attend classes hungry, with 23 million in Africa alone.Agriculture is the single largest employer in the world, providing livelihoods for 40% of today’s global population. It is the largest source of income and jobs for poor rural households.500 million small farms worldwide, most still rain fed, provide up to 80% of food consumed in a large part of the developing world. Investing in smallholder farmers is an important way to increase food security and nutrition for the poorest, as well as food production for local and global markets.In 1990, 53% of all Indian children were malnourished. In 2015, malnourishment declined to 40%.This map layer is offered by Esri India, for ArcGIS Online subscribers, If you have any questions or comments, please let us know via content@esri.in.

Historical chart and dataset showing Nigeria hunger statistics by year from 2001 to 2022.

This statistic shows the number of famine deaths per100,000 people worldwide from 1900 to 2010. In the 1920s, about 814 people per 100,000 of the global population died as a result of famine.