Some countries, especially those in Africa and Asia, have a bit bigger problem with hunger and starvation than others. And today, we’re going to talk about 15 countries with the highest hunger rates.
Which countries have a food crisis? Where are the highest death rates? These and many more questions are covered in today’s article.
8 Key Statistics Of Countries With Highest Hunger Rates
- Somalia is the hungriest country.
- 20 million Yemenis needed humanitarian assistance in 2021.
- Chad has 43% of stunted children.
- Madagascar is facing a catastrophe-level of food insecurity.
- 1.2 million Haitians suffer from severe hunger.
- In Timor-Leste, 46% of children suffer from chronic malnutrition.
- 80% of the Mozambique population can’t afford an adequate diet.
- 700,000 Nigerians are at imminent risk of starving to death.
27 Statistics Of Countries With Highest Starvation Rates
1. Somalia has a food crisis as it is the hungriest country in 2021.
Somalia is the hungriest country in 2021, according to the Global Hunger Index. The IFRC study stated that Somalia has 5.6 million food-insecure people. 2.8 million people can’t meet the daily food requirements. The food crisis is driven by factors such as extended drought, flooding, and desert locust infestations, as well as the COVID-19 pandemic and its influence on the country’s economy.
Source: IFRC and Global Hunger Index
2. Approximately 839 000 children in Somalia are malnourished.
Kids in Somalia also feel the negative impacts of hunger and starvation. According to the data provided by ReliefWeb, around 839,000 children under the age of 5 are likely to be acutely malnourished. That number also includes 143,000 children who are likely to be severely malnourished.
Source: ReliefWeb
3. In Yemen, more than 20 million people were in need of humanitarian assistance in 2021.
In 2021, 20.1 million people in Yemen were in need of humanitarian assistance. Yemen is fighting a terrible hunger crisis and 16.2 million people are food insecure and don’t have enough food to eat on a daily basis. Such a situation massively impacts their health.
Source: World Food Programme
4. Nearly 50,000 Yemenis live in famine-like conditions.
Famine-like conditions have returned to Yemen in towns Amran, Al Jawf, and Hajjah. There, nearly 50,000 people are living in terrible hunger conditions. The country has over 5 million people who are on the brink of famine.
Source: World Food Programme
5. Millions of pregnant women and children in Yemen require treatment for acute malnutrition.
Hunger has a severe impact on the health of pregnant and breastfeeding women. There are 1.2 million such women who require treatment for acute malnutrition. 2.3 million children under the age of 5 also need such treatment. Acute malnutrition can cause stunted growth in children.
Source: World Food Programme
6. Almost half of the population of the Central African Republic suffers acute food insecurity.
The Central African Republic has one of the highest hunger rates in the world. 47% of the population suffers from acute food insecurity. Over 2.2 million people, mostly those who live in rural areas, face severe levels of acute food insecurity. The main reasons for such a situation are conflict and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
Source: World Food Programme
7. One-third of the population in the Central African Republic is in a crisis situation.
One-third of the population, or in number, 1.6 million people are in a crisis situation regarding hunger and starvation. More than one in tenth, or over 630,000 people, are in an emergency situation. A crisis situation means that people may skip entire meals or sell something they own to buy food. Emergency situation means that people may sell their animals or pull their children out of school, or resort to begging.
Source: World Food Programme
8. About 31.7% of Chad’s population is undernourished.
Chad has the fourth-highest GHI score in 2021. The country has 3.7 million people who are food insecure. Chad’s current prevalence of undernourishment is at 31.7%. That means that nearly one-third of the population (2.2 million people) doesn’t get enough food nor have regular access to sufficient calories.
Source: World Food Programme and Global Hunger Index
9. Chad has almost 50% of stunted children.
The lack of food and vitamins can cause severe health problems, especially for children. 43% of children under the age of 5 in Chad are stunted. That, of course, affects the children’s development and growth.
Source: World Food Programme
10. The Democratic Republic of Congo is fighting the hunger crisis.
The hunger rate in the Democratic Republic of Congo has had an increase in the last few years. The country has 27 million people who are acutely food insecure while 3.4 million children are acutely malnourished. Congo has one of the largest hunger crises in the world, mostly because of conflict, economy, and COVID-19 pandemic.
Source: World Food Programme
11. Around 1.3 million people in Madagascar are in need of humanitarian assistance.
According to the Global Hunger Index report, Madagascar is the only country with an alarming hunger rate (GHI score) that is not experiencing conflict. The high levels of food insecurity are mainly caused by drought and climate change. The country has 1.3 million food-insecure people and they are in need of humanitarian assistance.
Source: World Food Programme and Global Hunger Index
12. In the region Grand Sud, 28,000 residents are facing “catastrophe-level” food insecurity.
The region in Madagascar, Grand Sud, is facing a catastrophe-level of food insecurity. 28,000 residents there don’t have enough food for a living. Three years of drought in the Grand Sud region has led to a high level of food insecurity and malnutrition.
Source: Action Against Hunger and World Food Programme
13. In Liberia, 32% of the population suffers from chronic food insecurity.
The country has 1.6 million hungry people. According to The Borgen Project, 32% of the country’s population is having severe or moderate chronic food insecurity. This percentage presents 1.55 million people who do not have enough food or any food at all on a daily basis.
Source: The Borgen project and Actions Against Hunger
14. Approximately 45% of Liberia’s population is malnourished.
Speaking of Liberia and according to The Borgen Project, 45% of the country’s population is acutely or chronically malnourished. Chronic malnourishment is a form of growth failure that causes physical and cognitive delays in development and growth. Due to hunger, in Monrovia, a town in Liberia, 45% of children deaths under the age of 5 are due to lack of food and being underweight.
Source: The Borgen project
15. Around 4.4 million Haitians need immediate food assistance.
Haiti has one of the highest levels of food insecurity. Nearly half of the country’s population is in need of immediate food assistance. The main reasons for such a horrible hunger situation are political and economic crises, natural disasters, and extreme weather.
Source: World Food Programme and The Borgen Project
16. In Haiti, 1.2 million people suffer from severe hunger.
Haiti is truly fighting a hunger crisis. 1.2 million people there suffer from severe hunger. 1 million people are in a situation that is classified as an emergency. Since 75% of Haiti’s population lives in poverty, people are suffering malnourishment, hunger, and starvation.
Source: World Food Programme
17. Timor-Leste has a constant of undernourished people of around 300,000.
Unlike other countries that have had an increase in undernourishment and hunger rates, Timor-Lesta has had a constant of undernourished people of around 300,000 since 2001. However, the country is still fighting high rates of hunger. The main reason for hunger in this country is the high price of limited food options which lead to the population’s high rate of poverty and, of course, lack of access to food.
Source: Borgen Magazine
18. Timor-Leste has 46% of children who suffer from chronic malnutrition.
The country has almost 50% of children under the age of 5 who suffer from chronic malnutrition. Timor-Leste has one of the highest rates of malnutrition in the world and children who suffer from it have severe health problems, growth failure, and development delays.
Source: Future Directions International
19. More than 3 million Sierra Leoneans lack reliable access to adequate food.
The biggest problem when it comes to food security is food access. And poverty is a huge factor for that when we’re talking about Sierra Leone. Besides, recurrent climatic shocks such as flooding, as well as challenging macroeconomic situations have an impact on the hunger rate in Sierra Leone.
Source: The Borgen Project
20. Over 40% of Sierra Leone’s population is food insecure.
More than 40% of the population is food insecure and that situation is linked to the high rate of poverty. Over 50% of the population lives on $1.25 or even less than that per day. Due to that, millions of people are struggling to buy nutritious and sufficient food.
Source: The Borgen Project
21. Nearly 40% of children are stunted or have development problems.
Due to poverty and hunger, around 40% of children are stunted or have growth and development delays due to chronic malnutrition. Back in 2018, many families weren’t capable of providing their children with much-needed nutrients and out of 10.5% of children deaths, about half of them were due to malnutrition.
Source: The Borgen Project
22. Mozambique has 950,000 hungry people.
Drought and conflict, as well as the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on economic activities, are the main reasons why 950,000 people in Mozambique are hungry and starving. Due to hunger, 42.3% of children under 5 are stunted.
Source: World Food Programme and Reuters
23. In Mozambique, 80% of people can’t afford an adequate diet.
Mozambique is having a big problem with poverty too. And that is the reason why 80% of the country’s population can’t afford an adequate diet. According to Statista, in 2021, 60% of the population in Mozambique lived in extreme poverty which then led to a high percentage of food insecurity and eventually, starvation.
Source: World Food Programme and Statista
24. The Republic of Congo has problems with poverty and hunger.
Democratic Republic of Congo and Republic of Congo are two separate countries and they both lead fights against hunger and poverty. Due to that, many sources don’t differentiate between these two countries so there aren’t any specific study that reports the hunger rate in the Republic of Congo. However, due to Global Hunger Index, the country is ranked 105th out of 116 which means it has some serious hunger and starvation problems.
Source: Global Hunger Index
25. Nigeria is in a state of hunger crisis.
Nigeria is having some serious problems with hunger and starvation. Around 4.5 million people are at risk of hunger while 700,000 of them are at imminent risk of starving to death. The main reasons for such a situation in the country are poverty (83 million Nigerians or 40% of the population is poor) and conflict.
Source: The Borgen Project and The Nigerian National Bureau of Statistics
26. There are 22.8 million hungry people in Afghanistan.
Due to the major droughts and floods, as well as economic and security challenges and conflict, 22.8 million Afghans are severely hungry. 3.2 million children are malnourished and may have severe health problems due to hunger and starvation.
Source: World Food Programme and Center for Strategic and International Studies
27. Nearly 50% of children in Papua New Guinea are malnourished.
According to the Global Hunger Index, Papua New Guinea has a serious and high level of hungry. Despite the fact that the country is resource-rich, almost 40% of the population lives in poverty. That leads to nearly 50% of malnourished children.
Source: The Borgen Project and Human Rights Watch
To Wrap It Up
While there are many more countries with hunger and starvation crises, these are 15 of them which have, according to the Global Hunger Index 2021, the highest hunger rates in the world. The countries are struggling and are in need of immediate humanitarian assistance. Many food banks, projects, and actions are trying to help as much as possible, however, conflict, economic factors, and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic make the situation even worse and almost impossible for a change.
