Africa Overtakes Asia as Continent with Most Hungry People: UN Report
A United Nations report has revealed that Africa now has the highest number of people facing hunger, surpassing Asia for the first time. The annual report on food security and nutrition, released on Tuesday, estimated that 309 million people in Africa—or 20% of the continent's population—experienced hunger last year.
In comparison, Asia had 292 million hungry people, representing 6% of its population. The shift marks a significant change in the global distribution of hunger, which the UN attributes to uneven progress in reducing food insecurity across regions.
“The centre of gravity of hunger has shifted from Asia to Africa,” said David Laborde, director of the agrifood economics division at the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). He noted that countries like China and India have made substantial strides in tackling hunger, while Africa has struggled due to a combination of climate shocks, conflicts, and economic challenges.
The report, compiled by the FAO and four other UN agencies, found that global hunger has declined slightly. The proportion of the world population facing hunger dropped from 8.6% in 2022 to 7.8% in 2025, reducing the total number by 43 million to 645 million. However, this figure remains higher than pre-COVID-19 levels.
In Africa, the prevalence of undernourishment has been rising since 2017, though the report notes tentative signs of a turnaround in 2025. The percentage of Africans unable to afford a healthy diet has also increased since 2021, reaching 66.6%—more than double the level in Asia. The report urged African nations to prioritise transforming the animal source food sector, which is the most expensive food group in the region.
Severe climate-related shocks and conflicts have worsened the situation. The war in Sudan has left 20 million people facing acute food insecurity, according to a separate UN warning in May. Conflicts in the Democratic Republic of Congo and other regions have also disrupted access to land and income. “Conflicts like the one in Sudan... in the Democratic Republic of Congo, also weigh heavily on people who cannot access their land or no longer have any income,” Laborde said.
The report also cautioned that a prolonged Middle East war could push millions more into acute hunger, though the impact of rising energy and fertiliser costs from the war in Ukraine has remained limited so far. Laborde stressed that the crisis is not yet over.
