Food security is measured through several related lenses: chronic dietary-energy insufficiency, reported access constraints, the affordability of a healthy diet and nutrition outcomes. The latest comparable global estimates below primarily cover 2023, while affordability data extend through 2022.
Key Food Security Statistics
The most important statistics at a glance:
- In 2023, 713–757 million people, or 8.9–9.4% of the world population, were undernourished; this is a modeled range reflecting uncertainty.
- In 2023, 2.33 billion people, or 28.9% of the global population, experienced moderate or severe food insecurity under the Food Insecurity Experience Scale (FIES).
- In 2023, 864 million people, or 10.7% of the global population, experienced severe food insecurity.
- In 2023, Africa had the highest regional prevalence of undernourishment at 20.4%.
- In 2023, 58.0% of Africa’s population experienced moderate or severe food insecurity, compared with 24.8% in Asia.
- In 2022, 35.4% of people worldwide, or 2.83 billion people, could not afford a healthy diet.
- In 2022, 71.5% of people in low-income countries could not afford the least-cost healthy diet under the cost-and-income model.
- Global adult obesity prevalence rose from 12.1% in 2012 to 15.8% in 2022, while child stunting declined from 26.4% to 23.2%.
- In 2023, Asia had an estimated 384.5 million undernourished people.
- In 2023, Africa had an estimated 298.4 million undernourished people.
- In 2023, Middle Africa had 77.7% moderate or severe food-insecurity prevalence, the highest subregional prevalence reported worldwide.
- In 2023, the global gender gap in moderate or severe food insecurity was 1.3 percentage points, comparing women with men at population level.
- In 2022, an estimated 924.8 million people in Africa could not afford a healthy diet, according to the cost-and-income model.
- In 2022, the modeled healthy-diet cost in lower- and upper-middle-income countries averaged 4.20 dollars per person per day, expressed in 2021 purchasing-power-parity dollars.
- The report forecast more than 1.2 billion adults with obesity globally by 2030, conditional on continuation of the modeled trends.
Contents
Jump to a section:
- Key Food Security Statistics
- Food Security Data: Measures and Definitions
- Global Food Security Statistics on Hunger and Food Insecurity
- Regional differences
- Who faces the greatest gaps
- Food Affordability Data and the Cost of a Healthy Diet
- Nutrition Statistics Related to Food Security
Food Security Data: Measures and Definitions
Food security is not one statistic. FAOSTAT organizes indicators across four dimensions: availability, access, utilization and stability.
Its food-security indicators can be reported as numbers, percentages, dollars, kilocalories per person per day or grams per person per day, with typical coverage from 2000 to 2024 varying by indicator. Suite of food security indicators (Global, National – Annual) – FAOSTAT
Two measures in the figures below should be kept separate. The prevalence of undernourishment (PoU) is a modeled estimate of habitual dietary-energy insufficiency.
FIES-based food insecurity measures people’s reported experiences of constrained access; they do not directly measure food consumption, dietary quality or nutritional status. The FIES moderate-or-severe indicator is SDG Indicator 2.1.2. Frequently asked questions: Measuring hunger, food security and food consumption
The global FIES reference scale assigns severity values to survey items and normalizes them to a mean of zero and a standard deviation of one. That methodology supports comparable access estimates, but it does not turn an access-experience measure into a direct dietary intake measure. Frequently asked questions: Measuring hunger, food security and food consumption
Global Food Security Statistics on Hunger and Food Insecurity
Other figures in this section include:
- The 2023 global undernourishment estimate was 713–757 million people, or 8.9–9.4% of the world population.
- The midpoint was 733 million.
Because the range reflects uncertainty around a modeled estimate, the midpoint should be read as a summary point rather than a precise headcount. The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2024
Using the same report’s mid-range estimate, the 2023 number facing hunger was about 152 million higher than in 2019. This is a comparison of modeled estimates, not a causal attribution to any single event or factor. The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2024
The broader FIES measure captures access constraints beyond chronic dietary-energy insufficiency:
- In 2023, moderate or severe food insecurity affected 28.9% of the global population, or 2.33 billion people.
- Severe food insecurity affected 10.7%, or 864 million people, and is a subset of the broader category. The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2024
- The global prevalence of severe food insecurity rose from 9.1% in 2019 to 10.6% in 2020.
- It remained about 10.6% through the reported 2023 period; small differences may fall within uncertainty.
The report describes the modeled series but does not identify causes for the change. The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2024
The gender gap in moderate or severe food insecurity narrowed from 3.6 percentage points in 2021 to 2.3 points in 2022 and 1.3 points in 2023, comparing women with men at the population level. This is not an individual risk estimate. The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2024
Regional Food Security Statistics
Regional results vary sharply, and prevalence and absolute counts answer different questions. In 2023, Africa’s prevalence of undernourishment was 20.4%, compared with 8.1% in Asia, 6.2% in Latin America and the Caribbean, and 7.3% in Oceania. The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2024
For moderate or severe FIES food insecurity, the 2023 regional comparison was:
Moderate or severe food insecurity by region
2023 prevalence, percent of regional population.
| Category or period | Reported value |
|---|---|
| Africa | 58.0% |
| Latin America and the Caribbean | 28.2% |
| Oceania | 26.8% |
| Asia | 24.8% |
| Northern America | 9.8% |
| Europe | 8.2% |
Source: The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2024. All values use the same FIES moderate-or-severe definition and 2023 regional population context.
Africa’s moderate-or-severe prevalence was 58.0%, Asia’s was 24.8%, Latin America and the Caribbean’s was 28.2%, and Oceania’s was 26.8%. Severe food insecurity alone affected 21.6% of Africa’s population. The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2024
Asia had the largest absolute undernourished population in the reported 2023 regional estimates:
| Region | Undernourished people |
|---|---|
| Asia | 384.5 million |
| Africa | 298.4 million |
| Latin America and the Caribbean | 41.0 million |
The figures illustrate why population size matters: a lower prevalence can coexist with a larger absolute count.
Source: The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2024
Subregional food-insecurity gaps inside Africa were also substantial in 2023:
| Subregion | Moderate or severe prevalence | People affected | Severe prevalence |
|---|---|---|---|
| Middle Africa | 77.7% | 157 million | 38.0% |
| Eastern Africa | 64.5% | 313 million | 24.2% |
| Western Africa | 61.4% | 270 million | 18.8% |
Middle Africa had the world’s highest moderate-or-severe prevalence. The severe category is part of the broader moderate-or-severe measure.
Source: The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2024
Latin America and the Caribbean showed a modeled improvement: moderate-or-severe food insecurity fell from 31.4% in 2022 to 28.2% in 2023, while severe food insecurity fell from 11.0% to 8.7%. In South America, the broader measure fell from 29.6% to 25.1% over the same period. The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2024
Regional figures include:
- Oceania moved in the opposite direction in the reported series, rising from 23.2% moderate-or-severe food insecurity in 2020 to 26.8% in 2023.
- The report notes a 2.7-percentage-point increase in the last year.
These are modeled estimates, not direct causal findings. The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2024
Food Security Data on Population and Gender Gaps
Other figures in this section include:
- In absolute terms, Asia accounted for about 1.18 billion moderately or severely food-insecure people in 2023.
- Africa accounted for about 847 million, Latin America and the Caribbean about 188 million, and Northern America and Europe about 98 million.
These totals reflect regional population size as well as prevalence. The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2024
Severity also differed within each regional total. Severely food-insecure people represented about 40% of Asia’s moderate-or-severe food-insecure population, about 37% of Africa’s, about 31% of Latin America and the Caribbean’s, and about 18% of Northern America and Europe’s.
The report describes these as approximate shares. The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2024
Recent regional changes were uneven:
- Eastern Africa’s moderate-or-severe prevalence fell 2.6 percentage points from 2022 to 2023, which the report says equated to more than 4 million fewer people.
- South America’s decline represented 18.7 million fewer moderately or severely food-insecure people and nearly 14 million fewer severely food-insecure people in 2023 than in 2022.
These are rounded report equivalents based on prevalence and population estimates. The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2024
Food Affordability Data and the Cost of a Healthy Diet
Food access is also shaped by whether household resources can cover a least-cost healthy diet after essential non-food needs:
- In 2022, an estimated 35.4% of people worldwide, or 2.83 billion people, could not afford a healthy diet.
- The 2023 estimate was not provided because updated income distributions, detailed food prices and purchasing-power-parity factors were unavailable in that edition. The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2024
- The modeled estimate fell from 36.4%, or 2.88 billion people, in 2021 to 35.4%, or 2.83 billion, in 2022.
- That corresponds to 50.1 million fewer people in the model, not a survey count.
- Earlier, the estimate rose from 2.82 billion in 2019 to 2.97 billion in 2020; the series coincides with the COVID-19 period but is not a causal estimate. The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2024
Income-group differences were wide in 2022:
| Income group | Unable to afford a healthy diet |
|---|---|
| Low-income countries | 71.5% |
| Lower-middle-income countries | 52.6% |
| Upper-middle-income countries | 21.5% |
| High-income countries | 6.3% |
Source: The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2024. These are modeled prevalence estimates comparing diet cost with income after essential non-food needs; they are not the same as FIES food insecurity.
Lower-middle-income countries contained 1.6769 billion people, or 59% of the global population unable to afford a healthy diet in 2022. Africa had 924.8 million people in this situation, up 24.6 million from 2021 and 73.4 million above its 2019 level. The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2024
The modeled average cost of a healthy diet in 2022 used 2021 purchasing-power-parity dollars per person per day:
| Income group | Daily healthy-diet cost per person |
|---|---|
| Lower- and upper-middle-income countries | 4.20 dollars |
| High-income countries | 3.78 dollars |
| Low-income countries | 3.48 dollars |
These are least-cost benchmarks, not average household food spending. A lower local-price benchmark does not imply affordability.
Source: The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2024
In low-income countries, the average healthy-diet cost increased nearly 5% from 2021 to 2022 and rose 10% from 2020 to 2021. The cost model uses purchasing-power parity and local food prices. The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2024
Nutrition Statistics Related to Food Security
Nutrition outcomes provide a different lens from food access. They can reflect diet quality, disease risk and other conditions, so they should not be treated as direct substitutes for FIES or PoU.
Global adult obesity prevalence rose from 12.1% in 2012 to 15.8% in 2022. This is an estimated outcome among adults, not a direct measure of whether people could obtain food. The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2024
Global child stunting prevalence declined from 26.4% in 2012 to 23.2% in 2022 among children under five. The age group and anthropometric definition matter: this statistic describes a measured nutrition outcome, not the full food-security condition of a household. The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2024
The report projected that global adult obesity would exceed 1.2 billion people by 2030. This is a forecast, not an observed count, and depends on continuation of the modeled trends. The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2024