UN SOFI 2026: Global Hunger Drops to 7.8% as Diet Costs and Regional Disparities Persist

Humanity is making steady yet fragile strides in the fight against world hunger, as three consecutive years of declining global undernourishment figures show that targeted interventions and supply chain resilience can yield real results. However, beneath the positive headline numbers lies a complex web of regional inequality, soaring nutrient costs, and geopolitical friction that threatens to stall momentum toward ending hunger by the end of this decade.

Quick summary

• Global hunger declined to 7.8% of the world population in 2025 (645 million people), down from 8.1% in 2024 and 8.6% in 2022.
• Regional inequality remains severe, with Africa now hosting the largest absolute hungry population at 309 million people, where 56.6% face moderate or severe food insecurity.
• The global average daily cost of a healthy diet rose to $4.28 PPP per person in 2025, leaving 2.69 billion people unable to afford nutrient-rich food.
• New geopolitical shocks, including the 2026 Middle East conflict and energy price inflation, threaten to leave between 510 and 520 million people hungry by 2030.

Why it matters

The findings published in the State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2026 (SOFI) report demonstrate that while macro-level caloric availability is improving, dietary quality and affordability remain severely constrained. For consumers, policymakers, and international development agencies, the core challenge has pivoted from basic grain supply to the structural affordability of nutrient-rich foods like fruits, vegetables, and animal-source products. High food inflation and agricultural value chain inefficiencies directly threaten human capital development, child health, and global economic stability.

Background

The global food security landscape experienced severe shocks between 2020 and 2023, triggered by pandemic disruptions, international supply chain bottlenecks, and the outbreak of key regional conflicts. By 2022, global hunger had surged to 8.6%, affecting over 688 million people. As global shipping normalized and emergency policy measures took effect, undernourishment began a gradual downward trajectory, falling to 8.1% in 2024 and 7.8% in 2025. Despite this recovery, overall food insecurity levels—encompassing those forced to compromise on food quality or quantity—remain higher than pre-pandemic benchmarks.

Qnews24h insight

The SOFI 2026 report reveals a structural paradox within global agrifood systems: global poverty metrics and aggregate grain harvests are recovering, yet nutritious food is becoming increasingly unaffordable for the most vulnerable populations. A crucial takeaway from the data is that post-farmgate operations—including food processing, cold-chain logistics, and middle-mile transport—account for 70% to 75% of consumer food costs. Agricultural policies that focus solely on farm-level yield without modernizing storage, processing, and transportation infrastructure will fail to lower the price of perishable, nutrient-dense foods. Furthermore, with Official Development Assistance (ODA) and humanitarian funding experiencing contractions, relying on emergency aid is no longer a viable long-term strategy; structural market reforms and private sector alignment in midstream value chains are urgently required.

Regional Disparities: Africa Bears the Heaviest Burden

While Asia and Latin America have recorded steady recoveries in food security over recent years, the African continent presents an urgent challenge. In 2025, Africa accounted for 309 million hungry people, surpassing Asia’s total of 292 million to become the region with the highest absolute number of undernourished individuals.

Although the percentage of Africa's population facing hunger decreased slightly from 20.3% in 2024 to 20.0% in 2025, rapid demographic growth means absolute numbers continue to rise. More than half of Africa’s total population—56.6%—experienced moderate or severe food insecurity in 2025. In contrast, moderate or severe food insecurity stood at 20.3% in Asia, 22.9% in Latin America and the Caribbean, and 8.7% across Northern America and Europe.

The Healthy Diet Crisis: Rising Costs vs. Shrinking Access

The SOFI 2026 report places a heavy focus on the cost of a healthy diet, defined as the minimum expenditure necessary to purchase locally available foods that meet essential daily energy and nutrient requirements. In 2025, the global average daily cost of a healthy diet reached 4.28 purchasing power parity (PPP) dollars per person, up from $3.44 PPP in 2021 and $2.94 PPP in 2017.

The highest dietary costs were recorded in Latin America and the Caribbean at $4.91 PPP per day. Encouragingly, the absolute number of people worldwide unable to afford a healthy diet dropped from 2.97 billion (37.4%) in 2021 to 2.69 billion (32.7%) in 2025. However, regional disparities again mask this global improvement: in Africa, 66.6% of the population could not afford a healthy diet in 2025, more than twice the proportion seen in Asia or Latin America.

Post-Farmgate Bottlenecks in Agrifood Value Chains

Analyzing why healthy foods remain expensive, UN agencies pointed to structural breakdowns along food value chains. Animal-source foods, fresh fruits, and vegetables contribute the largest proportion to daily diet costs globally, whereas starchy staples account for a minor share. In Africa, animal-source foods dominate healthy diet expenses, while fresh vegetables drive costs in Latin America.

Crucially, post-farmgate activities generate between 70% and 75% of the ultimate price paid by retail consumers, with wholesale logistics, processing, and storage contributing up to 40% of total costs. Policy solutions must therefore prioritize targeted investments in transport infrastructure, rural cold-chain storage, local energy grids, and trade facilitation to eliminate mid-stream waste and reduce price markups on perishable goods.

Maternal and Child Nutrition: Progress Stalls Across Key Metrics

Global progress on maternal and child health indicators remains critically slow, putting international 2030 targets out of reach. Worldwide, 150 million children under five years of age suffer from stunting due to chronic malnutrition. Meanwhile, only 30.8% of infants aged 6 to 23 months consume a minimally diverse diet essential for proper cognitive and physical development.

At the same time, adult obesity continues its multi-year upward trajectory, climbing from 12.1% in 2012 to 16.2% in 2024, missing the global target to halt its growth by 2025. Furthermore, rates of anaemia among women aged 15 to 49 continue to worsen across almost all geographic regions, highlighting widespread micronutrient deficiencies.

Conflict and Climate Hazards Threaten 2030 Projections

Looking ahead toward 2030, the UN agencies warn that new geopolitical instability and climate shocks threaten to reverse hard-won progress. Middle East conflicts in 2026, alongside trade disruptions in vital maritime corridors like the Strait of Hormuz, have renewed upward pressure on fertilizer and energy prices.

Under updated projections considering extended food inflation, between 510 million and 520 million people could still face chronic hunger in 2030—well above the 503 million projected in pre-conflict scenarios. Potential severe weather disruptions caused by El Niño cycles in 2026 and 2027 present additional unquantified risks that could further destabilize agricultural output worldwide.

Sources

Data and analytical statements in this report are sourced directly from The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2026 (SOFI 2026), jointly published by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), UN World Food Programme (WFP), and the World Health Organization (WHO), accessible via who.int.