The United Nations reported on July 21 that an estimated 645 million people faced hunger globally in 2025 — 14 million fewer than in 2024 and 43 million fewer than in 2022. The figure marks a third straight year of improvement after hunger surged during the COVID-19 pandemic, but the global total still sits above 2019 levels. The prevalence of undernourishment (the share of the population lacking enough food to meet basic energy needs) stood at 7.8% of the world's population in 2025, down from 8.1% in 2024 and 8.6% in 2022 (Al Jazeera, 2026-07-21).

The report, known as SOFI (State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World), is jointly produced 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). The 2026 edition focuses on the theme "Understanding and Addressing the High Cost of a Healthy Diet." The FAO presented the findings at a special event during the High-Level Political Forum (HLPF) on July 14 and hosted a dedicated launch webcast.

Africa remains the epicenter of global hunger. In 2025, roughly 309 million people on the continent were undernourished — one in five Africans and nearly half of the world's hungry population. The prevalence of hunger in Africa edged down from 20.3% in 2024 to 20% in 2025, but because the population is growing, the absolute number of hungry people still rose. Asia recorded 292 million undernourished (6% of its population), while Latin America and the Caribbean accounted for 32 million (4.8%).

The cost and affordability of nutritious food is a central concern of this year's report. The global cost of a healthy diet reached $4.28 per day in purchasing power parity (PPP) terms in 2025 — a way of comparing what the same basket of food costs across countries after adjusting for local living costs. That figure was up from $3.44 in 2021 and $2.94 in 2017. Despite the rising cost, the number of people unable to afford a healthy diet declined from 2.97 billion (37.4% of the global population) in 2021 to 2.69 billion (32.7%) in 2025. Asia has 1.4 billion people unable to afford a healthy diet, 29% of its population. Africa has 1.03 billion, nearly two-thirds of the continental population. In Latin America and the Caribbean, about 172 million people (26%) cannot afford a healthy diet. Europe and North America have 77.5 million (7%), and Oceania has 2.3 million (5%).

Looking forward, the UN projects the global number of undernourished people will fall by roughly 20% by 2030, leaving between 510 million and 520 million still facing hunger. Fifty-six percent of them are projected to live in Africa, reinforcing the continental concentration of food insecurity even as global totals decline.

The report also flagged a significant near-term risk to this trajectory. It warned that the 2026 US-Israel war on Iran could undermine progress on hunger reduction, particularly in Africa and Asia. The conflict's potential to disrupt food systems in regions already bearing the heaviest burden of undernourishment adds a layer of geopolitical uncertainty to projections that otherwise trend, cautiously, in the right direction.

The broader context here is one of fragile, uneven recovery. Three consecutive years of declining global hunger is an encouraging signal after the pandemic-era surge, but the recovery has not restored the pre-COVID baseline. And the headline global decline masks a critical divergence: Africa's share of the world's hungry is growing, both in absolute numbers and as a proportion of the global total. The projected 56% concentration in Africa by 2030 would deepen an already severe regional imbalance — think of it as a receding tide that lowers the overall water level but leaves one bay disproportionately flooded.

The affordability data tells a parallel story. While 280 million fewer people cannot afford a healthy diet than in 2021, the cost of that diet has risen 24% over the same period. The improvement in affordability is therefore being driven by income gains and food-access programs, not by cheaper food. Should those income gains stall or food prices accelerate further, the affordability gap could widen again. This is the structural vulnerability the 2026 SOFI report implicitly points toward: progress is real but contingent on economic conditions that remain fragile and on a geopolitical landscape that, as the Iran warning makes clear, can shift abruptly.

For policymakers and humanitarian actors working in food-insecure regions, the report's signal is twofold. The long-term trajectory is improving, but the margin is thin, the regional concentration is intensifying, and the risk of external shock is present. The gap between 645 million hungry today and the 2030 projection of 510–520 million is achievable on current trends, but it is not wide enough to absorb a major disruption without reversing course.