2024 saw some progress in the fight against world hunger after the number of undernourished people rose once again between 2017 and 2021 due to global crises such as the Covid-19 pandemic.

Among worldwide disruptions like the war in Ukraine and the inflation crisis, the number of people who cannot sufficiently feed themselves has remained high in 2024 and previous years, however.

The report states that the countries with the largest numbers of people facing high levels of acute food insecurity were Nigeria, Sudan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo while the countries with the largest share of the people in this position were Palestine (Gaza Strip), South Sudan, Sudan, Yemen and Haiti. This also means that the UN is further now from its goal to end hunger by 2030 than it was in 2017, Statista reports.

At yesterday's release of the Food Security and Nutrition in the World report, World Food Programme director Qu Dongyu said: “While it is encouraging to see a decrease in the global hunger rate, we must recognize that progress is uneven", urging more collaboration in areas where problems persist.

Last year, the number of undernourished people worldwide decreased for the third year in a row to a medium projection of around 673mn. This is equivalent to 8.2% of the world population. Hunger was most widespread in Africa where it affects 20% of the population while 6.7% of people across Asia are also affected by it. The estimation for people living in food insecurity stood at 2.3bn, meaning that 28% of the world has issues to feed itself consistently and with a healthy and varied diet.

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