In a new report released Monday by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, world hunger fell overall last year, while it continued to rise in most of Africa and western Asia. The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World (SOFI) confirmed that roughly 8.2 percent of the world’s population, or around 673 million people, suffered from hunger in 2024.
The report, which was published by five specialized United Nations agencies, said the decline was a decrease of approximately 15 million people from 2023 and 22 million from 2022.
“While it is encouraging to see a decrease in the global hunger rate, we must recognize that progress is uneven,” QU Dongyu, FAO director-general, said. “SOFI 2025 serves as a critical reminder that we need to intensify efforts to ensure that everyone has access to sufficient, safe, and nutritious food. To achieve this, we must work collaboratively and innovatively with governments, organizations, and communities to address the specific challenges faced by vulnerable populations, especially in regions where hunger remains persistent.”
The positive trend is the opposite in much of Africa and western Asia where hunger continues to rise. According to Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), “the proportion of the population facing hunger in Africa surpassed 20 percent in 2024, affecting 307 million people, while in western Asia an estimated 12.7 percent of the population, or more than 39 million people, may have faced hunger in 2024.”
While many countries affected by prolonged food crises saw an uptick in hunger, the Caribbean and Latin America saw a decline—5.1 percent of the population, or 34 million people in 2024 and 6.1 percent in 2020.
“Every child deserves the chance to grow and thrive. Yet over 190 million children under the age of 5 are affected by undernutrition, which can have negative consequences for their physical and mental development,” Catherine Russell, executive director at UNICEF, said. “This robs them of the chance to live to their fullest potential.”
To help continue to decrease food insecurity, the report recommended a response to food prices through “targeted fiscal measures like social protection programs to shield vulnerable households and strategic investing in agrifood research and development,” Common Dreams reported.
“We must work in collaboration with governments, the private sector and communities themselves to ensure that vulnerable families have access to food that is affordable and with adequate nutrition for children to develop,” Russell said. “That includes strengthening social protection programs and teaching parents about locally produced nutritious food for children, including the importance of breastfeeding, which provides the best start to a baby’s life.”
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