Africa overtakes Asia as region with most undernourished people, UN report finds

Global hunger declined for a third consecutive year in 2025, reaching an estimated 645 million people or 7.8 percent of the world population, according to the State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2026 (SOFI 2026) report released by five United Nations agencies. This marks a reduction of nearly 14 million people from 2024 and 43 million from the 2022 peak, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and partners reported (fao.org).

Despite the overall progress, regional disparities sharpened. Africa is now home to approximately 309 million undernourished people, surpassing Asia’s 292 million for the first time, the report states. Africa’s prevalence of undernourishment edged down from 20.3 percent in 2024 to 20.0 percent in 2025, interrupting a rising trend since 2017, but rapid population growth pushed absolute numbers higher (fao.org; english.elpais.com).

“The center of gravity of hunger has shifted from Asia to Africa,” said David Laborde, director of FAO’s agrifood economics division, as reported by AFP (manilatimes.net). FAO Chief Economist Máximo Torero noted that while Africa’s prevalence rate declined modestly, higher population growth, especially in sub-Saharan Africa, drove the absolute increase past Asia (english.elpais.com).

Asia and Latin America and the Caribbean drove much of the global improvement. Broader food insecurity also eased: 25.8 percent of the global population, or about 2.1 billion people, experienced moderate or severe food insecurity in 2025, down from 27.1 percent the prior year. In Africa, however, more than half the population (56.6 percent) faced such insecurity, far above Asia’s 20.3 percent (fao.org).

Projections indicate 510 to 520 million people could still face hunger in 2030, with about 56 percent of them in Africa, far from Sustainable Development Goal 2 targets. The report notes that recent Middle East conflict impacts on energy and fertilizer prices, along with potential weather extremes and reduced aid, pose further risks (fao.org; english.elpais.com).

A central focus of SOFI 2026 is the high cost of a healthy diet. The average global cost reached 4.28 purchasing power parity dollars per person per day in 2025. While the number unable to afford one fell to 2.69 billion people (32.7 percent of the world population), affordability worsened in Africa, where 66.6 percent could not afford a healthy diet—more than double the levels in Asia and Latin America and the Caribbean (fao.org; english.elpais.com).

Animal-source foods form the largest cost component in Africa. The report calls for investments in infrastructure, cold chains, and value-chain efficiency, plus subsidy reforms shifting support toward nutritious foods, to lower costs. Conflicts, climate shocks, and population dynamics continue to drive food insecurity on the continent, with some countries such as Tanzania, Senegal, and Zambia showing localized gains through social protection and food-system investments (fao.org; english.elpais.com).

FAO Director-General QU Dongyu stated that three years of progress show hunger is not inevitable, but faster action is needed through economic policies, social protection, and investments in resilient agrifood systems (miragenews.com).