Global hunger declined for a third consecutive year in 2025, according to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization’s State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World report, released at a press conference at FAO headquarters in Rome. UN officials described the trend as historic progress, while cautioning that it remains vulnerable to conflict, climate change, and economic shocks.
FAO Director-General Qu Dongyu said roughly 645 million people, or 7.8% of the world’s population, are currently experiencing hunger. That share is the lowest ever recorded, and Qu said it shows that hunger “is not inevitable.” He warned, however, that wars in the Middle East and shifting climate patterns are already visible in the numbers.
Africa remains the most acute concern. Around 20% of the continent’s population suffers from chronic undernourishment. While climate shocks are severe, conflict is compounding the crisis in ways the report flags specifically: fighting in Sudan, the Sahel, and the Democratic Republic of Congo is cutting millions of people off from their farmland and livelihoods.
Beyond outright hunger, the report found that approximately 2.1 billion people, or 25.8% of the global population, experience moderate or severe food insecurity. In these cases food may be available in quantity but lacks regularity or adequate nutritional value.
The effects on children are measurable. Around 150 million children under five suffer from stunting, down from 180 million in 2012, a reduction the report attributes to improved nutrition access over the intervening years.
Adult obesity is moving in the opposite direction. The rate stood at 16.2% in 2024 and is projected to reach 18.6% by 2030, the report said, pointing to a global nutrition landscape where under- and over-consumption are increasingly parallel problems.
