In 2025, famine was declared in both Gaza and Sudan for the first time in two decades, marking a sharp escalation in global hunger that left 35.5 million children under five acutely malnourished.
The Global Report on Food Crises, released in April 2026, confirms that acute food insecurity affected 266 million people across 47 countries last year — nearly 23 percent of the analysed population and almost double the share recorded in 2016.
Conflict drove more than half of this crisis, with 147.4 million people in 19 nations facing acute hunger due to violence and displacement, while humanitarian funding cuts worsened access to life-saving aid.
In Gaza, child malnutrition deteriorated at one of the fastest rates ever recorded, with the number of acutely malnourished children more than doubling in months as health, water, and nutrition systems collapsed under siege conditions.
Sudan mirrored this collapse, where famine was confirmed in areas where families were trapped, services had broken down, and children were cut off from care, turning clinics into overcrowded spaces where hope was rationed alongside food.
Nearly 10 million children suffered from severe wasting — a life-threatening condition that increases their risk of death by 12 times compared to well-nourished peers — yet remains preventable and treatable with therapeutic food and clean water.
At the same time, 9.2 million pregnant and breastfeeding women were acutely malnourished, increasing the risk of low birthweight and infant mortality from the very start of life.
Six countries and territories faced catastrophic hunger (IPC Phase 5), affecting 1.4 million people — a more-than ninefold increase since 2016 — with Gaza accounting for 640,700 of them, or 32 percent of its population, the highest share globally.
Sudan followed with 637,200 people in famine conditions, or 1 percent of its population, while South Sudan, Yemen, Haiti, and Mali recorded smaller but significant concentrations of catastrophic hunger among vulnerable groups.
More than 39 million people across 32 countries were in emergency conditions (IPC Phase 4), a marginal rise from 2024, indicating that the breadth of crisis remains entrenched even as the total number of affected countries decreased from 53 to 47.
The GRFC cautioned that the slight dip in headline numbers from 2024 reflects reduced country coverage, not declining demand, as the proportion of populations facing acute hunger has stayed above 20 percent every year since 2020.
Ten countries — Afghanistan, Bangladesh, DRC, Myanmar, Nigeria, Pakistan, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen — accounted for two-thirds of all people facing high levels of acute hunger, showing how crises are increasingly concentrated in a core group of fragile states.
In the most severe contexts, including Gaza, Myanmar, South Sudan, and Sudan, compounded shocks from inadequate diets, disease, and broken services have driven extreme malnutrition and elevated mortality risks.
Forced displacement continued to exacerbate food insecurity, uprooting families from livelihoods and pushing them into areas where aid access is restricted and systems are overwhelmed.
Health workers in Gaza and Sudan described working without pause but being overwhelmed — short of supplies, space, and time — as they weighed infants too weak to cry, their skin stretched thin over fragile bones.
Parents pleaded not for comfort but for the simplest things: a sachet of therapeutic food, clean water, a chance — a stark reminder that behind every statistic is a child fighting to survive.
What defines famine under the IPC system used in the report?
Famine is classified when at least 20 percent of households face extreme food shortages, acute malnutrition affects more than 30 percent of the population, and the death rate from starvation or hunger-related causes exceeds two deaths per 10,000 people per day.
Why did the total number of people in acute food insecurity appear slightly lower in 2025 compared to 2024?
The GRFC attributed the marginal decline to a reduction in the number of countries covered — from 53 to 47 — rather than any real decrease in need, as the proportion of populations facing acute hunger remains near record highs.
Which countries accounted for the largest share of people facing high levels of acute food insecurity in 2025?
Ten countries — Afghanistan, Bangladesh, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Myanmar, Nigeria, Pakistan, South Sudan, Sudan, the Syrian Arab Republic, and Yemen — accounted for two-thirds of all people facing high levels of acute hunger.