Overview
- The UN’s SOFI 2026 report, released in late July 2026, found about 2.1 billion people faced moderate or severe food insecurity in 2025 and roughly 645 million experienced hunger.
- For the first time in comparable records Africa has the largest absolute number of hungry people at about 309 million, surpassing Asia’s roughly 292 million largely because of rapid population growth.
- The report confirms famine conditions in Gaza and Sudan and highlights that around 2.7 billion people could not afford a healthy diet in 2025, with the average healthy diet costing US$4.28 per day.
- UN agencies say interacting drivers — including armed conflict, more frequent climate extremes, fertilizer and supply disruptions, trade restrictions, rising costs and falling aid — threaten to push food prices higher and undo recent reductions.
- Regional patterns vary: Latin America reduced hunger to about 4.8% (≈32 million people) but countries such as Haiti face extreme levels of food insecurity, and the report projects 510–520 million people could remain undernourished by 2030 without stronger policy responses.