World Hunger Index rises for first time in series dating to 2000

A global index moves backwards

The World Hunger Index, which Welthungerhilfe publishes with two partner organisations, rose from 17.6 points in the 2018 reference year to 18.1 points. That is the first worsening in the data series, which goes back to 2000. Hunger increased in 32 countries since 2018, while 20 others recorded little progress. Sub-Saharan Africa has the highest index value of any world region, and seven of the eight countries with alarming hunger levels are located there. The index draws on undernourishment, stunting, wasting and child mortality. If the trend continues, 57 countries will miss the goal of a low hunger level by 2030, according to the report.

Acute crises cluster in a few countries

Aktion gegen den Hunger counts about 266 million people in high acute food insecurity across 47 countries and territories in 2025, and two-thirds of them lived in just ten countries. Nigeria, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Sudan together account for 82.9 million of those affected. Nigeria had the largest recorded acute food crisis, with 30.6 million people affected in 2025. Separately, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization reported a slight global drop in chronic hunger to 645 million people in 2025, driven by gains in Asia and in Latin America and the Caribbean. The FAO figure is not equivalent to the count of acute crises, because it measures a different indicator.

Sudan and Nigeria

The war in Sudan, running since 2023, has triggered one of the most severe hunger crises worldwide. About 24.6 million people in Sudan faced high acute food insecurity in 2025, almost half the population. Famine was determined in the besieged cities of El Fasher and Kadugli during 2025, and in May 2026 14 areas were still considered threatened by famine. About 825,000 severely malnourished children under five are expected in Sudan in 2026, and UN estimates put the number of people needing humanitarian aid at 33.7 million. In Nigeria the index rose from 28.2 to 34.3 points since 2018, just below the threshold for the "alarming" category. Up to 34.7 million people are projected to face acute hunger in the 2026 hunger period, and an estimated 6.4 million children under five are acutely malnourished.

Aid cuts and causes

Mathias Mogge, Secretary General of Welthungerhilfe, called on the federal government to reverse cuts to development cooperation and humanitarian aid and to make food security a fixed part of its policy. He warned:

Anyone who cuts back on overcoming hunger and on crisis prevention today risks even greater humanitarian catastrophes and further instability tomorrow.

Aktion gegen den Hunger reports that funding for humanitarian food aid in crisis areas fell 59 percent between 2022 and 2025, forcing aid programmes to be scaled back and making crises harder to track. The index names armed conflicts as the main cause, because they drive people from their homes and destroy their livelihoods. The Russian war of aggression on Ukraine disrupted global food and fertiliser markets and pushed up food prices, while clashes between the United States, Israel and Iran and the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz made the situation worse, according to the report. Higher prices have made a healthy diet unaffordable for 2.69 billion people, and droughts and floods add to the hardship.

Development Minister Reem Alabali Radovan (SPD) issued a statement in which she said:

The current hunger figures are a clear alarm signal.

She linked hunger to wars and conflicts, while stressing that it is also a solvable problem.

Progress and the road to World Food Day

The report also records progress in Uganda and Nepal. Experts credit these gains to sustained investment and policy measures in nutrition, health, education and sanitation. They also warn that a positive national trend can hide hunger within a country. Both reports appear ahead of World Food Day on 16 October.