The United Nations reported on July 21 that about 645 million people faced hunger globally in 2025. That is 14 million fewer than in 2024 and 43 million fewer than in 2022. It is the third year in a row that hunger has gone down since it spiked during the COVID-19 pandemic. But the total is still higher than it was in 2019. About 7.8% of the world's population did not have enough to eat in 2025, down from 8.1% in 2024 and 8.6% in 2022 (Al Jazeera, 2026-07-21).

The report, called the State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World, is put together by five UN agencies: the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), UNICEF, the World Food Programme (WFP), and the World Health Organization (WHO). This year's edition focuses on the high cost of eating a healthy diet. The FAO shared the findings at a special event on July 14 during a UN forum called the High-Level Political Forum and hosted a live online broadcast.

Africa is where hunger is most severe. In 2025, about 309 million people in Africa did not have enough food — that is one in five Africans and nearly half of all the hungry people in the world. The percentage of hungry people in Africa went down slightly, from 20.3% in 2024 to 20% in 2025. But because Africa's population is growing, the actual number of hungry people still went up. In Asia, 292 million people were undernourished (6% of the population). In Latin America and the Caribbean, 32 million people (4.8%) faced hunger.

A big focus of this year's report is how much a healthy diet costs and whether people can afford one. The global cost of a healthy diet reached $4.28 per person per day in 2025. That is up from $3.44 in 2021 and $2.94 in 2017. These numbers are adjusted so countries can be compared fairly. Even though food costs more, fewer people are unable to afford a healthy diet: the number dropped from 2.97 billion in 2021 (37.4% of the world) to 2.69 billion in 2025 (32.7%).

Breaking that down by region: in Asia, 1.4 billion people cannot afford a healthy diet (29% of the population). In Africa, 1.03 billion people cannot afford one — nearly two-thirds of the continent. In Latin America and the Caribbean, about 172 million people (26%) are in that situation. Europe and North America have 77.5 million (7%), and Oceania has 2.3 million (5%).

The UN expects the number of hungry people worldwide to keep dropping, by about 20% by 2030. That would leave between 510 million and 520 million people still facing hunger. More than half of them — 56% — are expected to live in Africa, meaning hunger is becoming more concentrated there even as the global total goes down.

The report also warned about a serious near-term risk: the 2026 US-Israel war on Iran could slow or reverse progress on hunger, especially in Africa and Asia. The conflict could disrupt food supplies in regions that already have the most hunger, adding uncertainty to what is otherwise a cautiously positive trend.

The broader context here is one of fragile and uneven recovery. Three years of declining hunger is good news after the pandemic-era spike, but the world has not returned to where it was before COVID. And the global numbers hide an important split: Africa's share of the world's hungry is growing, both in total numbers and as a portion of the global count. By 2030, more than half the world's hungry could live in Africa, deepening an imbalance that is already severe.

The affordability data tells a similar story. While 280 million fewer people cannot afford a healthy diet than in 2021, the cost of that diet has gone up 24% over the same period. The improvement is happening because people are earning more and because programs help them access food — not because food is getting cheaper. If income growth stalls or food prices rise faster, the gap could widen again. Think of it like a household keeping up with rising rent thanks to a pay raise, but still one paycheck away from falling behind if the raise stops.

For governments and aid organizations working in places where food is scarce, the report sends a clear two-part message. The long-term trend is improving, but the margin is thin, hunger is concentrating in Africa, and a sudden shock could undo the progress. The drop from 645 million hungry today to a projected 510–520 million by 2030 is possible on the current path — but it is not a big enough cushion to survive a major disruption without going backward.