The Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO) and partners have launched the 2026 edition of the annual State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World report (SOFI 2026). The report shows a decrease in the number of people suffering from hunger globally, from 8.1% in 2024 and 8.6% in 2022, to 7.8% in 2025 – about 645 million people in total. However, these numbers conceal significant regional disparities, with the highest number of hungry people in absolute terms found in Africa.

Food insecurity trends paint a similar picture, according to the report. The number of people experiencing moderate or severe food insecurity globally dropped from 27.1% in 2024 and 28.7% in 2020 to 25.8% in 2025. This is while 56.6% of Africa’s population faced moderate or severe food insecurity in 2025, compared to 20.3% percent in Asia, 22.9% in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), and 8.7% in Northern America and Europe. 

SOFI 2026 updates hunger projections for the next five years, taking into account the conflict in the Middle East. Thanks to the impacts of higher energy and fertilizer prices on food inflation, approximately 510 to 520 million people may still experience hunger in 2030, compared to the lower estimate of 503 million in the pre-conflict scenario, according to the report. At the same time, the report projects the global number of undernourished people to go down by 20%.

Other findings include:

  • Progress on child stunting, wasting, overweight, low birthweight, and exclusive breastfeeding is marginal and too slow to meet the SDG targets.
  • Anaemia among women aged 15-49 years is worsening.
  • The prevalence of adult obesity continues to rise, from 12.1% in 2012 to 16.2% in 2024.
  • Only 30.8% of children aged 6-23 months globally consume a minimally diverse diet.
  • 150 million children under five years of age are still affected by stunting.

Themed, ‘Understanding and Addressing the High Cost of a Healthy Diet,’ SOFI 2026 spotlights the cost of a healthy diet – “the average minimum budget required to purchase a healthy diet composed of locally available foods in each country.” It reveals that in 2025, the average global cost of a healthy diet rose from 3.44 purchasing power parity (PPP) dollars per person per day in 2021 and 2.94 PPP dollars in 2017 to 4.28 PPP dollars in 2025. At 4.91 PPP dollars, the highest levels were recorded in the LAC region. At the same time, the report further shows that the number of people unable to afford a healthy diet has declined, from 37.4% of the global population in 2021 to 32.7% in 2025.

Regional disparities persist here as well, with 66.6 % of Africa’s population unable to afford a healthy diet in 2025. This is more than double the levels for Asia and LAC, according to the report.

To expand the supply of nutritious foods while lowering costs across agrifood value chains, the report calls for context-specific policy responses, including investments in infrastructure, research and development, irrigation, and cold chains, as well as reforms in subsidies, trade facilitation, and regulatory frameworks. It recommends targeted interventions for boosting productivity, reducing losses, and promoting sustainable practices to improve nutrition outcomes while strengthening resilience and supporting climate goals.

The report was launched in Rome, Italy, on 21 July 2026. A special event during the 2026 session of the UN High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF) on 14 July previewed its findings.

SOFI is FAO’s flagship report, co-published with the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the World Food Programme (WFP), and the World Health Organization (WHO). It informs on progress towards ending hunger, achieving food security, and improving nutrition in the context of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its SDG 2 (zero hunger). [Publication: The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2026: Understanding and Addressing the High Cost of a Healthy Diet] [Publication Landing Page] [Online Report] [SOFI 2026: In Brief] [FAO Press Release] [SDG Knowledge Hub Stories on SOFI 2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2015]