Hunger is falling but is still higher than pre-COVID levels: UN report

What the report says

Al Jazeera reported that global hunger declined for a third straight year in 2025, citing the latest United Nations State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World report. The report estimated that 645 million people faced hunger in 2025, down 14 million from 2024 and 43 million from 2022. The share of the global population experiencing hunger fell to 7.8 percent, but remained above the level recorded before the COVID-19 pandemic.

The regional picture remains uneven. Africa was identified as the main hunger hotspot, with about 309 million undernourished people in 2025, or roughly one in five people on the continent. Asia had an estimated 292 million undernourished people, while Latin America and the Caribbean had 32 million. The UN projected further improvement by 2030, but still expected 510 million to 520 million people to be undernourished by then, with a majority in Africa.

Al Jazeera also highlighted the cost of nutritious food. The report found that 2.69 billion people could not afford a healthy diet in 2025, an improvement from 2021, even as the daily global cost of such a diet rose to $4.28 in purchasing power parity terms. Asia had the largest number of people unable to afford a healthy diet, while Africa had the highest proportion.

A separate FAO and World Food Programme food crises report estimated that about 1.4 million people faced catastrophic hunger, the most severe classification. Al Jazeera said the largest numbers were in Gaza and Sudan, followed by South Sudan, Yemen, Haiti and Mali, underscoring how conflict, economic shocks and climate extremes continue to threaten food security despite global gains.