Around 645 million people suffered from hunger last year, representing 7.8 percent of the world population, and this slight improvement compared to previous years will likely be harder to achieve this year due to the war in the Middle East and climate change, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) announced today.
This is the lowest rate so far, but it still shows that progress remains slow, uneven, and fragile, the latest report states, adding that the situation is particularly critical in Africa, where 20 percent of the population suffers from malnutrition and chronic calorie deficiency.
After the economic crisis following the coronavirus, which pushed millions of people into hunger (688 million affected in 2022), the situation has improved, but without returning to pre-pandemic levels, according to the FAO report based in Rome.
In 2015, approximately 600 million people were affected by hunger. By 2030, the UN predicts between 510 and 520 million undernourished people, more than half of whom will be in Africa.
In addition to hunger, 2.1 billion people (25.8 percent of the world population) suffer from moderate or severe food insecurity, with irregular meals and limited calories.
About 2.69 billion people cannot afford a healthy diet, as costs have risen by 25 percent over five years, the report adds.
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