Prevalence of food insecurity, severe (% of population)
Share of people experiencing severe food insecurity (% of population). Comparable FAO/VoH survey-based estimates for 2019.
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Key Insights
- •Severe food insecurity can exceed 40–50% of the population in countries experiencing conflict or state fragility.
- •Many high-income countries have very low but non-zero severe food insecurity, highlighting that acute deprivation can exist even in wealthy settings.
- •The indicator captures lived experience of constrained access to food, complementing supply-side measures like food availability or production.
Country Rankings
Top 10 Countries
Bottom 10 Countries
Data Analysis
Value Distribution
How countries are distributed across the value range
Regional Comparison
Average values by world region (Global avg: 9.0%)
About This Statistic
This statistic measures the estimated share of a country’s population experiencing **severe food insecurity**, based on the FAO’s Food Insecurity Experience Scale (FIES). “Severe” corresponds to people who, at times during the reference period, ran out of food, went hungry, or went without eating for a whole day due to lack of money or other resources.
Because it is derived from nationally representative survey data harmonized through the FIES methodology, it enables cross-country comparisons of acute deprivation that goes beyond food availability alone—capturing whether people can reliably access enough food. This is a compelling lens on vulnerability and inequality, and it is widely used for tracking progress on SDG 2 (Zero Hunger).
Full Data
| Rank ↑ | Country ↕ | Value ↕ |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Haiti | 59.0% |
| 2 | South Sudan | 51.0% |
| 3 | Eritrea | 49.0% |
| 4 | Somalia | 47.0% |
| 5 | Yemen | 45.0% |
| 6 | Niger | 36.0% |
| 7 | Syrian Arab Republic | 35.0% |
| 8 | Zambia | 35.0% |
| 9 | Democratic Republic of the Congo | 34.0% |
| 10 | Rwanda | 33.0% |
| 11 | Chad | 32.0% |
| 12 | Liberia | 31.0% |
| 13 | Mozambique | 30.0% |
| 14 | Zimbabwe | 30.0% |
| 15 | Lesotho | 29.0% |
| 16 | United Republic of Tanzania | 28.0% |
| 17 | Malawi | 27.0% |
| 18 | Sierra Leone | 26.0% |
| 19 | Comoros | 25.0% |
| 20 | Mauritania | 25.0% |
| 21 | Sudan | 25.0% |
| 22 | Uganda | 25.0% |
| 23 | Venezuela | 25.0% |
| 24 | Republic of the Congo | 24.0% |
| 25 | Kenya | 23.0% |
| 26 | Togo | 23.0% |
| 27 | Madagascar | 22.0% |
| 28 | Nigeria | 22.0% |
| 29 | Djibouti | 20.0% |
| 30 | Senegal | 20.0% |
| 31 | Ethiopia | 18.0% |
| 32 | Mali | 18.0% |
| 33 | Pakistan | 18.0% |
| 34 | Guinea | 16.0% |
| 35 | India | 16.0% |
| 36 | Bangladesh | 15.0% |
| 37 | Equatorial Guinea | 14.0% |
| 38 | Gabon | 14.0% |
| 39 | Republic of The Gambia | 14.0% |
| 40 | New Caledonia | 14.0% |
| 41 | Guyana | 13.0% |
| 42 | Papua New Guinea | 13.0% |
| 43 | State of Palestine | 12.0% |
| 44 | Cote d'Ivoire | 12.0% |
| 45 | Panama | 12.0% |
| 46 | Cameroon | 11.0% |
| 47 | Antigua and Barbuda | 10.5% |
| 48 | Dominican Republic | 10.0% |
| 49 | North Korea | 10.0% |
| 50 | Lao People's Democratic Republic | 10.0% |
| 51 | Nicaragua | 10.0% |
| 52 | Sri Lanka | 9.5% |
| 53 | Solomon Islands | 9.5% |
| 54 | Cambodia | 9.0% |
| 55 | Ghana | 9.0% |
| 56 | Honduras | 9.0% |
| 57 | Iraq | 9.0% |
| 58 | Jamaica | 9.0% |
| 59 | Suriname | 9.0% |
| 60 | Eswatini | 9.0% |
| 61 | Botswana | 9.0% |
| 62 | Myanmar | 8.0% |
| 63 | Ecuador | 8.0% |
| 64 | El Salvador | 8.0% |
| 65 | Libya | 8.0% |
| 66 | Malta | 8.0% |
| 67 | Mexico | 8.0% |
| 68 | Guatemala | 7.0% |
| 69 | Paraguay | 7.0% |
| 70 | Peru | 7.0% |
| 71 | Egypt | 7.0% |
| 72 | Bhutan | 6.5% |
| 73 | Burundi | 6.0% |
| 74 | Indonesia | 6.0% |
| 75 | Namibia | 6.0% |
| 76 | Nepal | 6.0% |
| 77 | Philippines | 6.0% |
| 78 | South Africa | 6.0% |
| 79 | Tajikistan | 6.0% |
| 80 | Belize | 6.0% |
| 81 | Montserrat | 5.0% |
| 82 | Bolivia | 4.8% |
| 83 | Colombia | 4.0% |
| 84 | Cuba | 4.0% |
| 85 | Islamic Republic of Iran | 4.0% |
| 86 | Maldives | 4.0% |
| 87 | Morocco | 4.0% |
| 88 | Vietnam | 4.0% |
| 89 | Kyrgyzstan | 3.5% |
| 90 | Jordan | 3.0% |
| 91 | Lebanon | 3.0% |
| 92 | Trinidad and Tobago | 3.0% |
| 93 | Tunisia | 3.0% |
| 94 | Uzbekistan | 3.0% |
| 95 | Central African Republic | 2.5% |
| 96 | Moldova, Republic of | 2.5% |
| 97 | Andorra | 2.5% |
| 98 | Cape Verde | 2.2% |
| 99 | Georgia | 2.2% |
| 100 | Angola | 2.2% |
| 101 | Barbados | 2.2% |
| 102 | Costa Rica | 2.1% |
| 103 | Chile | 2.0% |
| 104 | Benin | 2.0% |
| 105 | Kazakhstan | 2.0% |
| 106 | Malaysia | 2.0% |
| 107 | Seychelles | 2.0% |
| 108 | Thailand | 2.0% |
| 109 | Türkiye | 2.0% |
| 110 | Ukraine | 2.0% |
| 111 | Uruguay | 2.0% |
| 112 | Bahrain | 2.0% |
| 113 | Greece | 1.5% |
| 114 | Serbia | 1.5% |
| 115 | Bahamas | 1.5% |
| 116 | Russian Federation | 1.2% |
| 117 | The Republic of North Macedonia | 1.2% |
| 118 | Brazil | 1.2% |
| 119 | Cayman Islands | 1.1% |
| 120 | Austria | 1.1% |
| 121 | Belarus | 1.0% |
| 122 | People's Republic of China | 1.0% |
| 123 | Latvia | 1.0% |
| 124 | Mauritius | 1.0% |
| 125 | Montenegro | 1.0% |
| 126 | Romania | 1.0% |
| 127 | Algeria | 1.0% |
| 128 | Belgium | 1.0% |
| 129 | Croatia | 0.9% |
| 130 | Lithuania | 0.9% |
| 131 | Australia | 0.9% |
| 132 | Canada | 0.8% |
| 133 | Hungary | 0.8% |
| 134 | Mongolia | 0.8% |
| 135 | Poland | 0.8% |
| 136 | Fiji | 0.7% |
| 137 | France | 0.7% |
| 138 | Spain | 0.7% |
| 139 | United States of America | 0.7% |
| 140 | Brunei Darussalam | 0.7% |
| 141 | Cyprus | 0.6% |
| 142 | Czech Republic | 0.6% |
| 143 | Estonia | 0.6% |
| 144 | Germany | 0.6% |
| 145 | Ireland | 0.6% |
| 146 | Italy | 0.6% |
| 147 | Portugal | 0.6% |
| 148 | Slovakia | 0.6% |
| 149 | Slovenia | 0.6% |
| 150 | Bosnia and Herzegovina | 0.6% |
| 151 | Bulgaria | 0.5% |
| 152 | Denmark | 0.5% |
| 153 | Israel | 0.5% |
| 154 | United Kingdom | 0.5% |
| 155 | Faroe Islands | 0.4% |
| 156 | Finland | 0.4% |
| 157 | Kuwait | 0.4% |
| 158 | Netherlands | 0.4% |
| 159 | New Zealand | 0.4% |
| 160 | Norway | 0.4% |
| 161 | Saudi Arabia | 0.4% |
| 162 | Argentina | 0.4% |
| 163 | Iceland | 0.3% |
| 164 | Japan | 0.3% |
| 165 | South Korea | 0.3% |
| 166 | Luxembourg | 0.3% |
| 167 | Oman | 0.3% |
| 168 | Qatar | 0.3% |
| 169 | Sweden | 0.3% |
| 170 | Switzerland | 0.3% |
| 171 | United Arab Emirates | 0.3% |
| 172 | Afghanistan | 0.3% |
| 173 | Singapore | 0.2% |
| 174 | Albania | 0.2% |
| 175 | Bermuda | 0.2% |
Topics
Data Source
This data comes from Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) (2019).
View Original Source