global hunger west Asia

Nairobi (dpa) — Last year, approximately 673 million people worldwide experienced hunger — about 22 million fewer than in the previous year, UN data showed.

This marks a slight global improvement, according to the latest State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World report released by five UN agencies in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia on Monday.

But the report also notes that hunger has intensified in some regions due to ongoing humanitarian crises.

The UN’s Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) found that in 2024, more than 35 million people were affected by a food emergency (level 4 of 5), while nearly 2 million faced catastrophic food shortages (level 5, famine-like conditions). The most severely affected areas include the Gaza Strip, South Sudan, Sudan, Haiti and Yemen.

Despite some regional progress, particularly in South Asia, South East Asia and South America, the global goal of eradicating hunger remains out of reach. In 2024, 8.2% of the world’s population lacked enough food to meet basic nutritional needs.

In contrast to other regions, hunger increased in Africa and West Asia.

Looking ahead, projections suggest that while the number of undernourished people may decline by 2030, an estimated 512 million people will still face hunger — 60% of them in Africa. Last year alone, about one in five people in Africa suffered from chronic hunger.

High food prices a problem for many

According to the report, approximately 2.3 billion people worldwide were living in moderate to severe food insecurity in 2024. This means they either did not have enough food or did not have food of sufficient quality.

Rising food prices also contributed to many people being unable to afford certain foods, especially high-quality and healthy ones.

Approximately one-third of the world’s population could not afford a healthy diet in 2024, the report found.