Global Food Security and Hunger: SOFI 2026 Key Statistics

The 2026 edition of The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World (SOFI), published by FAO, IFAD, UNICEF, WFP and WHO, reports that global hunger declined for a third consecutive year in 2025 [1]. It estimates that 7.8% of the world population faced hunger in 2025, down from 8.1% in 2024 and 8.6% in 2022 [1]. That is around 645 million people, nearly 14 million fewer than in 2024 and 43 million fewer than in 2022 [1].

The previous edition, SOFI 2025, had estimated 673 million people facing hunger and about 2.3 billion in moderate or severe food insecurity in 2024 [3]. SOFI estimates are revised each edition as new data arrive, so figures from different editions should not be compared directly.

In 2025 an estimated 25.8% of the global population, around 2.1 billion people, experienced moderate or severe food insecurity [1][2]. This was down from 27.1% in 2024 and 28.7% in 2020, equivalent to nearly 86 million fewer people than in 2024 and 135 million fewer than in 2020, though still above pre-pandemic levels [1].

Food insecurity is more prevalent in rural areas than in urban and peri-urban areas, and women remain disproportionately affected [1].

Africa is now home to approximately 309 million hungry people, compared with 292 million in Asia [1]. The share of Africa's population facing hunger fell from 20.3% in 2024 to 20.0% in 2025 [1].

More than half of Africa's population (56.6%) faced moderate or severe food insecurity in 2025, compared with 22.9% in Latin America and the Caribbean, 20.3% in Asia and 8.7% in Northern America and Europe [1].

Acute crises add to chronic hunger. The World Bank reported in May 2026 that up to 67 million people need food assistance in East and Southern Africa, 14 localities in Sudan are at risk of famine, and nearly 52.9 million people are projected to be acutely food insecure in West and Central Africa during the June-August 2026 lean season [4].

The average global cost of a healthy diet rose to 4.28 PPP dollars per person per day in 2025, from 3.44 in 2021 and 2.94 in 2017 [1]. Latin America and the Caribbean had the highest cost at 4.91 PPP dollars [1].

The number of people unable to afford a healthy diet fell from 2.97 billion (37.4%) in 2021 to 2.69 billion (32.7%) in 2025 [1]. In Africa, 66.6% of the population could not afford a healthy diet in 2025 [1]. SOFI finds post-farmgate activities account for 70 to 75% of what consumers pay [1].

SOFI 2026 projects that approximately 510 to 520 million people may still face hunger in 2030, depending on how long the Middle East conflict affects food inflation, compared with 503 million in the pre-conflict scenario [1]. These projections do not include possible El Nino effects in 2026 and 2027 [1]. The World Bank cites WFP estimates that a prolonged conflict could push up to 45 million more people into acute food insecurity in 2026 [5].

Adult obesity prevalence rose from 12.1% in 2012 to 16.2% in 2024 [1]. Only 30.8% of children aged 6 to 23 months consume a minimally diverse diet, and 150 million children under five are stunted [1].

Hunger is measured by the Prevalence of Undernourishment (PoU), the share of people whose food consumption does not meet dietary energy needs. Moderate or severe food insecurity is measured with the survey-based Food Insecurity Experience Scale (FIES). Headline figures come from FAO's announcement of SOFI 2026; the 2025 values are model-based estimates and 2030 values are projections. Healthy diet costs are in purchasing power parity (PPP) dollars per person per day. Acute food insecurity figures come from the World Bank's May 2026 Food and Nutrition Security Update. The Global Report on Food Crises was not verified for this edition and is not included.