Global hunger has seen a decline, with an estimated 645 million people facing food insecurity in 2025, according to a new United Nations report. This figure represents a decrease of 14 million from 2024 and 43 million from 2022, marking the third consecutive year of improvement since the surge during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Despite this gradual improvement, hunger levels in 2025 remain significantly higher than in 2019, before the pandemic began. The report, titled 'The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World,' highlights that hundreds of millions of people continue to suffer from acute food shortages, driven by a confluence of factors including conflict, economic instability, and extreme weather events.

In 2025, an estimated 7.8 percent of the global population experienced hunger, a slight decrease from 8.1 percent in 2024 and 8.6 percent in 2022. The report indicates that while progress has been made, the world is still grappling with the long-term consequences of recent crises.

The United Nations projects that the number of undernourished people worldwide could fall by approximately 20 percent by 2030 compared to current estimates. However, even with this projected decline, an estimated 510 million to 520 million people are still expected to face hunger by the end of the decade.

Africa continues to be the continent most affected by hunger, with an estimated 309 million people undernourished in 2025. This figure equates to one in five people on the continent and accounts for nearly half of the world's hungry population. In contrast, Asia reported 292 million undernourished individuals (6 percent of its population), and Latin America and the Caribbean reported 32 million (4.8 percent).

While Asia and Latin America have shown steady progress in reducing both the prevalence and number of people facing hunger, the situation in Africa presents a more complex picture. The long-term increase in hunger on the continent appears to have stalled, with a slight decrease in prevalence from 20.3 percent in 2024 to 20 percent in 2025. However, due to population growth, the absolute number of hungry people in Africa continued to rise.

The report also noted a decline in the number of people unable to afford a healthy diet, falling from 2.97 billion in 2021 to 2.69 billion in 2025. This suggests that, on average, income growth outpaced the rising cost of a healthy diet globally. Nevertheless, the global cost of a healthy diet has continued to increase, reaching $4.28 per day in 2025, up from $3.44 in 2021.

Looking ahead, the UN report cautioned that recent global events, such as the 2026 US-Israel war on Iran, could potentially undermine the progress made in food security, particularly in vulnerable regions like Africa and Asia. The report emphasizes the ongoing challenges in ensuring equitable access to food amidst persistent conflict, economic volatility, and climate-related disasters.