The most impressive reductions in hunger were observed in Central Asia – credit, Far Chinberdiev, via Unsplash
For the 3rd consecutive year, global hunger as measured by malnourishment among continental populations has fallen.
It’s also the first time that the malnourished as a share of global population has fallen below 8% since the government-enforced business closures and supply disruptions resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic.
The reduction is driven by a steep, 5-year decline of malnourishment in Asia, and a lesser decline over the same period in the Caribbean and Latin America.
On a 3-year time horizon, Oceania also saw a drop of 0.4%. Africa remains the world’s most undernourished continent, with averages above 20% in some regions, with the worst being located in conflict zones.
Presented in the UN Food and Agriculture Organization’s State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2026 report, 7.8% of the global population is considered malnourished.
It’s a huge improvement since 1970, when undernourishment afflicted nearly 35% of the population living outside Europe and North America.
GETTING BETTER ALL THE TIME:
Since 2010, inspiring declines have been witnessed particularly in Southeast Asia and Central Asia, which saw malnourishment fall from 11.6% to 5.1%, and from 7.7% to 2.8% respectively, the latter eliminating malnutrition as much as high-income countries.
Conflict is overwhelmingly the strongest driver of malnourishment, with hotspots such as West Asia, and Central and Eastern Africa suffering the most. Though tragic, it suggests at least that advances seen in the also largely-rural Central Asia could be replicated if wars can be brought to an end.
The FAO reports that this figure of 7.8% is predicted to fall another 20% by the end of the decade, which while not fulfilling its mission of ending hunger, will represent the lowest level of hunger ever recorded among the human race.
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