The List Of 54 Shocking Hunger Statistics & Facts 2022

Hunger and starvation are some of the biggest problems the world has to fight. And COVID-19 certainly hasn’t made that fun any easier. With an increase of hungry people every year, the death rate is quite terrible with more than 8.5 million deaths in 2021.

Is the rate of hunger and starvation increasing? How did the pandemic affect the already bad conditions of hunger in the world? Is the death rate really that high?

Today, we’re talking about the most important and quite shocking statistics about global hunger and food insecurity.

Here are the main topics we’ll cover:

• Global Hunger Statistics
• Hunger Rate Statistics
• Food Insecurities Statistics
• Childhood Hunger Statistics
• Food Bank Statistics
• Hunger Death Rate Statistics

Global Hunger Statistics

1. 811 million people went hungry worldwide in 2020.

The year 2021 was hard in many aspects, especially due to the COVID-19 pandemic which made life even harder than it already was. Around 9.9% of the worldwide population went hungry in 2020 compared to the previous 2019 year when there were 8.4% hungry people in the world. In number, between 720 and 811 million people went hungry in 2020.

Source: United Nations

2. In 2021, there are 957 million hungry people.

According to the United Nations’ hunger map, there are 957 million people across 93 countries who do not have enough to eat. The number of hungry people increased by more than 100 million from the year 2020.

Source: United Nations

3. In the last couple of years, the number of undernourished people grew by 161 million.

By the definition, undernourished means that a human being is not getting enough food or not enough healthy food to have good health and growth. According to the Action Against Hunger, from 2019 to 2020, there were 161 million more people who were considered undernourished.

Source: Action Against Hunger

4. Nearly 98% of worldwide hunger exists in underdeveloped countries.

One in nine people in the world is currently undernourished. And 98% of those people live in developing countries. Hunger in such countries is one of the most significant issues in reducing poverty, as well as in global development around the world.

Source: The Borgen Project

5. The number of people on the edge of famine has risen to 45 million.

According to the data from the United Nations World Food Programme, there are 45 million people fighting the extreme scarcity of food in 43 countries. This number has increased from the previous years when there were 27 million people fighting famine.

Source: United Nations World Food Programme

6. Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Caribbean were most affected by hunger in 2020.

According to FAO, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, in 2020 there were 46 million more hungry people in Africa, almost 57 million more in Asia, and 14 million more in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Source: FAO

7. Around 22% of Sub-Saharan Africa’s population suffers from undernourishment.

Sub-Saharan Africa is still the region with the highest prevalence of undernourishment. According to World Vision, 22% of the population of this region fights hunger and starvation. It is estimated that by 2030, this percentage will be increased up to 29.4%.

Source: World Vision

8. The Caribbean also has a high rate of undernourished population.

In the data presented by the World Vision, 16.6% of the population of the Caribbean is considered to be undernourished. For example and comparison, North America and Europe have less than 2.5% of people who are malnourished.

Source: World Vision

9. Asia accounts for half of the world’s undernourished people.

In 2020, approximately 418 million people in Asia were undernourished. The highest rate of hunger in Asia was in southern countries like Pakistan and India. There, around 48% of people faced hunger and food insecurity.

Source: Global Citizen

10. Around 14% of India’s population is undernourished.

India has experienced high growth in the economy in the last decade. However, despite that, the data collected by World Vision shows that 189.2 million people, or around 14% of the population, are still undernourished.

Source: World Vision

11. Up to 132 million more people will be chronically hungry due to the pandemic.

The COVID-19 pandemic has certainly aggravated the already tough living conditions in some countries. According to World Vision, between 83 million and 132 million more people will feel the consequences of hunger due to the pandemic.

Source: World Vision

12. By 2030, there will be more hungry people than in a scenario in which the pandemic hadn’t occurred.

FAO’s data states that around 660 million people may face hunger in 2030 due to the lasting effects of the pandemic on global food security. If the COVID-19 pandemic hadn’t happened, there would be 30 million fewer people facing hunger in the world.

Source: FAO

13. The world will fail to achieve a low level of hunger by 2030.

According to the study made by Welt Hunger Hilfe, the COVID-19, conflicts, and climate change threaten to erase every progress that has been made against hunger in recent years. Due to that, 47 countries won’t reach a low level of hunger in the next decade.

Source: Welt Hunger Hilfe

14. The world produces enough food to feed all 7 billion people.

Despite the fact stated in the data by DoSomething that the world produces enough food to feed everyone, those who are hungry either don’t have the money to buy food or land to grow food by themselves. Poverty is often closely linked to hunger.

Source: DoSomething

15. Up to 150 million more people will fight extreme poverty by the end of the year.

Speaking of poverty, the World Bank estimated that by the end of 2021, there will be 150 million more people who fight extreme poverty. The number will increase due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Source: World Vision

16. Poverty and hunger are more present among rural populations.

About 70% of the global food supply is produced by herders, fishermen, and small farmers, and those people are most vulnerable when it comes to food insecurity. Rural populations of the world are the most affected by poverty and hunger.

Source: Action Against Hunger

17. Action Against Hunger programs reached more than 25 million people in nearly 50 countries in 2020.

As a global humanitarian organization, Action Against Hunger takes decisive actions against the causes of hunger, as well as its effects. According to the organization’s data and statistics, only in 2020 they have reached and help more than 25 million people in their fight against hunger. Their actions helped reduce the number of undernourished people worldwide by 50%.

Source: Action Against Hunger

18. Hunger is considered extremely alarming in Somalia.

According to the 2021 GHI scores and provisional designations, Somalia has the biggest problems with hunger. The situation is alarming in 5 countries – Chad, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Yemen, and Madagascar. In other 31 countries, the hunger situation is at serious levels.

Source: Welt Hunger Hilfe

19. Currently, 59.5% of Somalia’s population is undernourished.

Due to political instability, civilian insecurity, and over a decade of droughts, Somalia is fighting famine. According to the Concern Worldwide U.S. and World Food Program, 2.7 million people cannot meet their daily food requirements, while 5.6 million people are food-insecure. Around 12.3 million people need humanitarian assistance.

Source: Concern Worldwide U.S.

20. Chad has 31.7% of the undernourished population.

Chad was the hungriest country in 2020 according to the GHI scores. Conflict and weather extreme contribute to already difficult living conditions in the country. Chad also has around 500,000 refugees and adequate food and nutrition are the main concern for them, as well as the country’s population.

Source: Concern Worldwide U.S.

21. Women are 10% more likely to experience hunger.

According to the Global Citizen report, the gender gap of hunger grew in 2020 and women are more likely to face hunger than men. This is especially dangerous for pregnant women and those who are breastfeeding due to the possible health complications that may occur.

Source: Global Citizen

Hunger Rate Statistics

22. In 2020, conflict was the primary reason for hunger.

It is no secret that conflict is one of the main reasons for poverty and hunger. According to the data collected by the Action Against Hunger, conflict drove hunger to 99.1 million people in 23 countries.

Source: Action Against Hunger

23. Extreme poverty rates fell from nearly 36% in 1990 to 9.2% in 2017.

If we look at the poverty rates in the last few decades, we’ll see that the rate actually decreased. Back in 1990, it was nearly 36% and in the next years, it fell down to 9.2%. As we already mentioned, poverty is closely linked to hunger and those two go hand in hand together.

Source: World Vision

24. The hunger rate increased to 9.9%.

The last couple of years were rather tough for living. Especially considering the factor of the COVID-19 pandemic which no doubt had a big influence on the rates of poverty and hunger. According to FAO, the hunger rate in 2019 was 8.4% and it increased to 9.9% in 2020. At the moment, there is no data for 2021, but due to the ongoing pandemic, bad economy, and many lockdowns, the rate might be increased even more.

Source: FAO

25. 11.3% of the world’s population is hungry.

According to the study conducted by DoSomething, 11.3% of the world population is fighting hunger. In numbers, that would be more than 805 million people who are undernourished on a daily basis and consuming a lot less than the recommended 2,100 calories a day.

Source: DoSomething

26. The Global Hunger Index has been on the decline since 2000.

Despite the fact that the rate of global hunger has been decreasing in the last decades, one of the four indicators used to calculate the GHI scores is increasing – the global prevalence of undernourishment. According to the Welt Hunger Hilfe, Africa South of the Sahara has the highest rates of undernourishment and child mortality of any region in the world.

Source: Welt Hunger Hilfe

Food Insecurities Statistics

27. 957 million people across the globe don’t have enough to eat.

The last available data by the United Nations stated that 957 million people across 93 countries don’t have enough food to eat. Once there isn’t enough food, comes many health problems too. And a high death rate of hunger-related causes is increased even more.

Source: United Nations

28. Food insecurity has been climbing slowly for the last 6 years.

Food insecurity is a big problem in today’s world. It presents the state of being without reliable access to a sufficient quantity of nutritious and affordable food. The data from the FAO research showed that the rate of moderate or severe food insecurity is increasing slowly for the last 6 years. At the moment, it affects more than 30% of the world’s population.

Source: FAO

29. Around 9% of the world population is severely food insecure.

The Our World in Data showed exact numbers of people who are fighting food insecurity. 9% of the population, around 697 million people, are severely food insecure. On the other hand, 1.9 billion people, or one in four of them, are severely or moderately food insecure.

Source: Our World in Data

30. Nearly one in three people did not have access to adequate food in 2020.

As we already stated, the last couple of years weren’t easy due to the fight against the pandemic. If we look at 2020, one in three people in the world, or 2.37 billion of them, didn’t have access to adequate food. That total number was increased to almost 320 million people. In just one year!

Source: FAO

31. COVID-19 had dramatically increased the number of people facing acute food insecurity.

We already know that COVID-19 had a severe effect on poverty, hunger, and food insecurity. According to the data by WFP, World Food Programme, the pandemic had increased the number of people facing food insecurity in 2020-2021. The WFP estimates that around 272 million people are at risk of becoming acutely food insecure.

Source: World Food Programme

32. Over 38 million Americans struggled with food insecurity in 2020.

From 2019 to 2020, there was a high increase in the number of people who struggled with food insecurity. In 2020, more than 38 million Americans, or 11.8% of them, lived in households that were lack of access to an affordable and nutritious diet. The rate had increased by 9% from 2019.

Source: Food Research & Action Center

33. Across sub-Saharan Africa and southern Asia, about 57% of the population is unable to afford a healthy diet.

Lack of food is not the only problem for some countries, but money and poverty too. Despite the fact that people in Africa and Asia may have access to food some days, such meals aren’t nutritious nor healthy enough to give their bodies all the minerals and vitamins they need.

Source: World Vision

Childhood Hunger Statistics

34. When a mother is undernourished during pregnancy, the baby is often born undernourished, too.

The data collected by DoSomething showed that babies in the womb are affected by the living conditions of their mothers. If a mother is undernourished during pregnancy, the baby is often undernourished when it’s born too. 17 million babies are born undernourished every year because of a mother’s lack of nutrition not only during the pregnancy but also before.

Source: DoSomething

35. Around 14 million children under the age of 5 suffer from severe acute malnutrition.

Kids are the most vulnerable group. And around 14 million of them who are under the age of five, are severe acute malnutrition. Acute malnutrition is known as severe wasting and only 25% of such children have access to lifesaving treatment.

Source: Action Against Hunger

36. Due to malnutrition, 149.2 million children were stunted in 2020.

Childhood malnutrition is high and according to the available data, almost 150 million children under the age of 5 were stunted, while 45.4 million were wasted. These problems can possibly lead to many health and developmental complications.

Source: Global Citizen

37. In the USA, 13 million children live in food-insecure homes.

Not only do the undeveloped countries fight hunger, but so do the United States. The latest data showed that 13 million children live in food-insecure homes. They do not have enough to eat and due to that, they do not get all the vitamins, minerals, and nutrients to nourish their health and body.

Source: No Kid Hungry

38. More than 1 in 7 children lived in food-insecure households before the COVID-19 pandemic.

We often talk about how the COVID-19 pandemic affected people and kids when it comes to poverty and hunger, but what about before the pandemic? Then too such rates were high. 1 in 7 children lived in households that were food-insecure, never knowing whether or not the food will be at the table tomorrow.

Source: Children’s Defense Fund

39. At the moment, 19 million children are facing extreme hunger.

Whether the reason is the pandemic, poverty, or conflict, this is a terrifying number to look at. Extreme hunger is a state of being no human should face, not alone kids and children. And it is estimated that this number will only grow.

Source: Save the Children

40. An estimated 11 million children under 5 are facing extreme hunger in some countries.

Some countries are fighting these problems more often. Around 11 million children under the age of 5 are facing starvation or extreme hunger in the Middle East, Asia, the Caribbean, and across 11 countries in Africa.

Source: Save the Children

41. In Yemen, 10.3 million children are facing food shortages.

Yemen in Asia is having big problems with hunger and poverty, especially when we’re talking about kids. There, 10.3 million children are now facing food shortages. The southern parts of the country have more than 570,000 children under the age of 5 who are suffering from acute malnutrition. 100,000 of them are on the brink of starving to death.

Source: Save the Children

42. A third of Afghanistan is facing acute food shortages.

Afghanistan is also one of the countries that are fighting the hunger crisis. One-third of the country is facing acute food shortages. In that one-third are 1.5 million children under the age of 5.

Source: Save the Children

Food Bank Statistics

43. In 2013, 62% of food-insecure households participated in at least 1 Federal food assistance program.

Federal Food Assistance Programs help feed people who are facing hunger across the United States. According to their data, back in 2013, 62% of households that were fighting food insecurity, participated in at least 1 out of the 3 major assistance programs.

Source: DoSomething

44. Feeding America supplies food to more than 37 million Americans.

Millions and millions of Americans are fighting food insecurity and hunger every year. Feeding America supplies food to more than 37 million Americans. That number includes 3 million seniors and 14 million children.

Source: DoSomething

45. 72% of food banks do not feel as though they are able to adequately meet the needs of their communities.

Food banks are reaching out to help and feed as many people as possible. However, sometimes such demands simply cannot be fulfilled. 72% of food banks understand that the amount of food that is distributed needs to be adjusted in order to meet the needs of their communities.

Source: DoSomething

46. Food banks provided food assistance to 16.9 million people in 2019.

In 2019, The Global FoodBanking Network member food banks provided food assistance to 16.9 million people in 44 countries. That is an increase of 7 million people from the previous year, 2018. The number of people included 8.9 million women and girls, and 6.2 million children.

Source: The Global FoodBanking Network

47. The number of distributed food and grocery products increased by 82%.

In order to provide successful food assistance to millions of people, the food banks in the GFN system need to meet the high demands of hunger. In 2019, the number of food and grocery products increased by 82%, which is more than 919.75 million kilograms. That is around 54 kilograms of food per person.

Source: The Global FoodBanking Network

48. GFN distributes 882 million kilograms of food and grocery products.

This year, it is estimated that 882 million kilograms of food were divided into 2.4 billion meals and then shared with families facing hunger. The Global FoodBaking Network supports food banks in 44 countries and works with over 59,000 partner community service organizations.

Source: The Global FoodBanking Network

49. Approximately 2.5 million people used a food bank in the United Kingdom in 2021.

According to the data from the study conducted by Statista, the United Kingdom is fighting hunger too. And at an increased rate. In 2021, around 2.5 million people used a food bank in the UK. That is over 6000 more than in the previous year of 2020.

Source: Statista

Hunger Death Rate Statistics

50. More than 8.5 million people died from hunger in 2021.

We’re truly living in tough times. The world is fighting the pandemic, many crises, and conflicts that lead to even more poverty and starvation in some countries. Such a high number of deaths in one year is terrifying. No doubt the number will be even higher by the end of the year.

Source: The World Counts

51. Each day 25,000 people die from hunger and related causes.

With such a high number of more than 8.5 million deaths this year, even scarier is to hear the exact number of deaths per day. Every day 25,000 people die from hunger and related causes. This number includes 10,000 children.

Source: United Nations

52. Almost 1 in every 15 children dies before the age of 5, most of them from hunger-related causes.

Developing countries fight more with poverty, hunger, and conflicts than other countries. There, the most often reasons for kids dying by the age of 5 are hunger-related causes such as starvation, acute malnutrition, and other illnesses caused by hunger.

Source: DoSomething

53. A child dies from hunger every 10 seconds.

According to the data from the study made by The World Counts, every 10 seconds one child dies from hunger. That is a shocking fact. Per year, the number of children who died from hunger and starvation climbs to 3.1 million.

Source: The World Counts

54. Around 315,000 women in hunger die from hemorrhaging during childbirth.

The situation with hunger is so bad in some countries, that women in hunger lack basic nutrients such as iron, and due to that, 315,000 of them die during childbirth every year. The cause of their deaths is hemorrhaging.

Source: DoSomething