UN Releases SOFI 2025 Report: Global Hunger Affected 8.2% of World’s Population in 2024, Africa Worst Hit.
International
On 28 July 2025, the United Nations released the “State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World (SOFI) 2025” report, revealing that approximately 673 million people, or 8.2% of the global population, experienced chronic hunger in 2024. While hunger decreased slightly from 8.5% in 2023, progress remains uneven across regions.
- The SOFI 2025 report—prepared jointly by FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization), IFAD (International Fund for Agricultural Development), UNICEF (United Nations Children’s Fund), WFP (World Food Programme), and WHO (World Health Organization)—shows hunger continued to decline globally for a third year in a row, although levels remain higher than in 2019 pre-pandemic baselines.
- The reduction in global hunger has been largely driven by gains in Southern Asia (notably India) and South America, where hunger rates fell to 11% and 3.8%, respectively. These improvements reflect better access to nutritious diets, agricultural advancements, and effective social protection initiatives.
Main Point :- (i) In stark contrast, Africa remains the most vulnerable region, with 307 million people—or one in five—chronically undernourished in 2024. The proportion of food-insecure people in Africa is expected to rise to nearly 60% of the global total by 2030, driven by conflict, climate shocks, and slow agricultural productivity.
(ii) The report highlights that approximately 2.3 billion people globally—or 28% of the population—were moderately or severely food insecure in 2024. This figure was still 355 million higher than in 2019 and 683 million higher than in 2015 when the UN adopted its Sustainable Development Goals.
(iii) While undernourishment declined slightly, global obesity rates increased: adult obesity reached 15.8% by 2022, up from 12.1% in 2012, and child stunting declined modestly to 23.2% in 2024. The report underscores rising food inflation as a key barrier to accessing healthy diets.
About Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO)
Director-General (DG) : Qu Dongyu
Headquarters : Rome, Italy
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