Global Report on Food Crises 2025

Acute food insecurity and child malnutrition rose for the sixth consecutive year in 2024, pushing millions of people to the brink, in some of the world’s most vulnerable regions, according to the Global Report on Food Crises (GRFC), released by the Global Network Against Food Crises in May 2025.

The report shows that conflict, economic shocks, climate extremes and forced displacement continued to drive food insecurity and malnutrition around the world, with catastrophic impacts on many already fragile regions.

Increasing numbers of hunger

In 2024, more than 295 million people across 53 countries and territories experienced acute levels of hunger – an increase of 13.7 million from 2023. Of great concern is the worsening prevalence of acute food insecurity, which now stands at 22.6 per cent of the population assessed. This marks the fifth consecutive year in which this figure has remained above 20 per cent.  

The number of people facing catastrophic hunger (IPC/CH Phase 5) more than doubled over the same period to reach 1.9 million – the highest on record since the GRFC began tracking in 2016.  

Malnutrition, particularly among children, reached extremely high levels, including in the Gaza Strip, Mali, Sudan and Yemen. Nearly 38 million children under five were acutely malnourished across 26 nutrition crises.

The report also highlights a sharp increase in hunger driven by forced displacement, with nearly 95 million forcibly displaced people – including internally displaced persons (IDPs), asylum seekers and refugees – living in countries facing food crises such as the Democratic Republic of Congo, Colombia, Sudan and Syria, out of a global total of 128 million forcibly displaced people.

Key drivers of acute food insecurity and malnutrition:

•  Conflict remained the top driver of acute food insecurity, affecting around 140 million people in 20 countries and territories. Famine has been confirmed in Sudan, while other hotspots with people experiencing catastrophic levels of acute food insecurity include the Gaza Strip, South Sudan, Haiti and Mali.
   
• Economic shocks, including inflation and currency devaluation, drove hunger in 15 countries affecting 59.4 million people – still nearly double pre-COVID 19 levels, despite a modest decline from 2023. Some of the largest and most protracted food crises were primarily driven by economic shocks, including in Afghanistan, South Sudan, the Syrian Arab Republic and Yemen.  
   
• Weather extremes, particularly El Niño-induced droughts and floods, pushed 18 countries into food crises affecting over 96 million people, with significant impacts in Southern Africa, Southern Asia and the Horn of Africa.

According to the GRFC outlook, hunger shocks will likely persist into 2025, as the Global Network anticipates the most significant reduction in humanitarian funding for food and nutrition crises in the report's history.  

(GNAFC/ile)

Visit the website of the Global Report on Food Crises