GLOBAL hunger declined for a third consecutive year in 2025, but progress remains fragile, uneven and insufficient to achieve the Sustainable Development Goal of Zero Hunger by 2030, according to a United Nations report released on Tuesday.
The 2026 edition of The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World estimates that 7.8 per cent of the world’s population, or about 645 million people, faced hunger in 2025, down from 8.1 per cent in 2024 and 8.6 per cent in 2022.
Recovery has been uneven across regions, the report underlines. Asia, together with Latin America and the Caribbean, has recorded steady improvements, while Africa now has the largest number of people facing hunger: around 309 million people in 2025. More than half of Africa’s population, or 56.6 per cent, also experienced moderate or severe food insecurity, far above the levels in Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean, and North America and Europe.
The Food and Agriculture Organization’s (FAO) Chief Economist Maximo Torero told the media that declining global hunger proves that progress is possible. However, although hunger in Africa has begun to stabilize after years of increases, he said the pace of improvement needs to accelerate.
Torero also warned that geopolitical tensions and climate-related shocks could jeopardize recent progress. He said the crisis in the Strait of Hormuz could push up food inflation through higher energy and fertilizer prices, while potential weather extremes such as El Nino may further affect agricultural production and food security in the coming years.
The report warned that recent gains remain vulnerable. The 2026 Middle East conflict, together with weather extremes and reductions in official development assistance and humanitarian funding, could undermine progress in ending global hunger, it said. — Xinhua