Africa records first reversal of years-long deterioration, yet now has the world’s highest number of hungry people.
ROME – Global hunger has declined for the third year in a row, with progress recorded across every continent for the first time in recent years, according to the flagship report The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World (SOFI) 2026, released today by five United Nations agencies.
The report estimates that 7.8 percent of the global population – approximately 645 million people – faced hunger in 2025, down from 8.1 percent in 2024 and 8.6 percent in 2022. This represents a reduction of nearly 14 million hungry people compared to the previous year .
Africa’s Turning Point
For the first time, Africa now hosts the largest number of people facing hunger in absolute terms, with approximately 309 million people affected, compared with 292 million in Asia . However, the continent’s previously rising trend is beginning to stabilize. The share of Africa’s population facing hunger decreased from 20.3 percent in 2024 to 20.0 percent in 2025 – a “very, very slight” but significant reversal, according to Máximo Torero, chief economist at the UN Food and Agriculture Organization .
Several African countries, including Ethiopia, Tanzania, Zimbabwe, Senegal, and Zambia, have shown tangible signs of progress .
Broader Food Insecurity Trends
Beyond hunger statistics, the report found that 25.8 percent of the global population (around 2.1 billion people) experienced moderate or severe food insecurity in 2025 – meaning they were forced at times to compromise on the quality or quantity of food they consumed. This is down from 28.7 percent in 2020, equivalent to nearly 135 million fewer people .
Regional disparities remain stark. More than half of Africa’s population (56.6 percent) faced moderate or severe food insecurity in 2025, compared to 20.3 percent in Asia and 8.7 percent in Northern America and Europe . Food insecurity continues to be more prevalent in rural areas than in urban areas, and women remain disproportionately affected .
The Challenge of Healthy Diets
Despite progress on hunger, access to nutritious food remains a major global challenge. 2.69 billion people – nearly one in three – could not afford a healthy diet in 2025 . The average global cost of a healthy diet rose to 4.28 purchasing power parity (PPP) dollars per person per day, up from 3.44 PPP dollars in 2021 .
The affordability gap is particularly acute in Africa, where 66.6 percent of the population cannot afford a healthy diet – more than double the levels recorded in Asia and Latin America . Experts point to weak infrastructure, limited cold-storage facilities, and fragmented trade regulations as key factors driving up the cost of perishable, nutritious foods on the continent .
Threats to Future Progress
The UN agencies caution that improvements remain “fragile, unevenly distributed and insufficient” to achieve the goal of ending hunger by 2030 . Emerging threats – including disruptions to shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, a potential strong El Niño weather pattern, and reductions in official development assistance – could undermine recent gains .
“We hope the trend won’t change, but there are several risks affecting us right now,” warned FAO Chief Economist Torero . Depending on the duration of the Middle East conflict’s impact on food inflation, 510 to 520 million people may still be facing hunger in 2030 – higher than pre-conflict projections .
Report details: The SOFI 2026 report is jointly published by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), UNICEF, the World Food Programme (WFP), and the World Health Organization (WHO).
