Hunger declines globally in 2025 but remains above pre-pandemic levels: New State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World Report released

With the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) deadline of 2030 fast approaching, the clock is ticking for the world to meet its goal of eradicating hunger and food insecurity. Some progress was made toward this milestone in 2024; however, hunger levels remain above their pre-pandemic levels, according to the 2025 State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World report.

Approximately 8.2 percent of the world’s population experienced hunger in 2024, the report finds. While this is a decline from 8.5 percent in 2023 and 8.7 percent in 2022, it still represents about 673 million people worldwide. In addition, around 2.3 billion people experienced moderate or severe food insecurity in 2024. Based on current estimates, chronic hunger is will still impact around 512 million people in 2030.

Rising food prices and high domestic food inflation continued to be major concerns for food markets and food security efforts in 2024. The average cost of a healthy diet rose to 4.46 purchasing power parity (PPP) dollars per person per day in 2024, up from 4.3 PPP dollars in 2023 and 4.01 PPP dollars in 2022. The number of people unable to afford a healthy diet declined by 80 million between 2022 and 2024 but still remains startlingly high at 2.60 billion.

While food price inflation in 2024 was down from its peak of 13.6 percent in 2023, global food markets continue to grapple with the effect of several years of record-high inflation that’s slowed recovery from the pandemic and other significant global shocks, such as the Russia-Ukraine conflict. The impact of these shocks and the subsequent food price inflation has been particularly stark for low-income countries and smallholder agricultural producers, who tend to be net food buyers.

Regionally, progress on hunger and food security outcomes varied in 2024. South-east Asia, southern Asia, and South America all experienced significant improvements in hunger. Prevalence of undernourishment in Asia overall fell from 7.9 percent in 2022 to 6.7 percent in 2024, while Latin America and the Caribbean saw undernourishment fall from 6.1 percent to 5.1 percent.

In western Asia and most of Africa, on the other hand, hunger rose steadily. More than 20 percent of Africa’s population, or 307 million people, and 12.7 percent of the western Asian population, or 39 million people, faced hunger in 2024. Africa also saw a significant increase in the number of people unable to afford a healthy diet—more than 1 billion people in 2024. Of the 512 million people projected to be undernourished in 2030 worldwide, nearly 60 percent are forecast to live in Africa.

As in previous years, rural populations faced higher levels of food insecurity in 2024 than peri-urban or rural areas—32 percent compared to 28.9 percent and 23.9 percent, respectively.

These regional and demographic variations in food security and recovery from the recent years of food price inflation show that disparities remain in terms of countries’ and populations’ resilience to shocks. However, the report emphasizes that the global response to the pandemic and other shocks between 2021 and 2023 was relatively well coordinated. Policymakers avoided the use of widespread export bans that would only exacerbate market volatility and disruption, and transparent information-sharing helped reduce market speculation and allow for evidence-informed policy decisions. This collaboration, combined with strong social safety nets in many countries, helped soften the harshest impacts of rising food prices.

Still, more remains to be done if the hunter- and food security-related SDGs are to be achieved by 2030. This includes continued commitment to reducing market disruptions, ensuring strong institutions and governance at both the national and the global level, and investing in research and development, early warning systems, and sustainable food production and consumption practices to drive more resilient agrifood systems.

Sara Gustafson is a freelance writer and communications consultant.