Around 8.2% of world’s population affected by hunger last year: SOFI 2025

An estimated 96 million more people were suffering from chronic hunger today compared to 2015, according to the report
Around 8.2% of world’s population affected by hunger last year: SOFI 2025
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Hunger affected up to 720 million people worldwide in 2024 — around 8.2 per cent of the global population, while 2.3 billion people in the world were estimated to have been moderately or severely food insecure, according to the ‘State of Food and Nutrition in the World’ (SOFI) 2025 report released by the United Nations on July 28.

Whereas this marked a modest improvement from 8.5 per cent in 2023 and 8.7 per cent in 2022, progress remained uneven. Asia accounted for the highest number of undernourished people at 323 million, followed by Africa (307 million) and Latin America and the Caribbean (34 million).

Although hunger levels declined in Southeast Asia, Southern Asia, and South America, the report noted persistent or rising food insecurity in several other regions like Africa. The report estimated that more than one in five people living in Africa were facing chronic hunger. 

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Around 8.2% of world’s population affected by hunger last year: SOFI 2025

Nearly half of the total number of moderately or severely food-insecure people in the world lived in Asia, given its very large population. However, the prevalence of people who are food-insecure was much higher in Africa.

It also highlighted how despite some recent progress, global hunger in 2024 remained well above pre-pandemic levels and even higher than in 2015, when the UN launched the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

An estimated 96 million more people were suffering from chronic hunger today compared to 2015.

“It is now estimated that about 2.3 billion people in the world were moderately or severely food insecure in 2024, which is still 335 million more than in 2019, before the pandemic, and 683 million more compared to 2015, when the 2030 Agenda was launched,” it said.

How many people may be facing hunger in 2030?

According to the current projections by the report, 512 million people, or six per cent of the global population, may be chronically undernourished in 2030, highlighting the challenge of achieving the zero-hunger goal.

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Around 8.2% of world’s population affected by hunger last year: SOFI 2025

The report conducted an exercise to project how many people may be facing hunger in 2030 based on what can be inferred from available forecasts of fundamental demographics, agricultural productivity and economic variables, in particular macroeconomic forecasts.

The analysis found that by 2030, the number of undernourished people will have fallen by only 65 million — from 577 million to 512 million — since the 2030 Agenda was launched in 2015.

“While improvements are expected in all regions over the next five years, significant differences remain. By 2030, 60 per cent of the undernourished people in the world will be in Africa, where 17.6 per cent of the population will be facing chronic hunger. In Asia, as well as in Latin America and the Caribbean, the prevalence of undernourishment will fall below 5 per cent,” the report said.

The SOFI report is an annual report prepared by five UN agencies — Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), IFAD (International Fund for Agricultural Development), UNICEF (UN Children’s Fund), WFP (World Food Programme), and WHO (World Health Organization). It presents the latest data and analysis on hunger, food security and nutrition worldwide, and a report on progress towards meeting Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) targets 2.1 and 2.2: ending hunger and ensuring access to safe, nutritious and sufficient food for all people all year round; and eradicating all forms of malnutrition.

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