⚠️ Unconfirmedsocial2022

Prevalence of moderate or severe food insecurity (FIES) — % of population

Name: Prevalence of moderate or severe food insecurity (FIES) — % of population
Creator: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)
Keywords: statistic-of-the-day, ai-generated, food security, hunger, SDG2, FIES, nutrition, poverty, FAO

Share of people experiencing moderate or severe food insecurity, measured via the FAO Food Insecurity Experience Scale (FIES), latest available year.

Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)•172 countries

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Key Insights

Global Average

23.8%

Median: 16.3%

Countries Covered

172

with available data

Highest

South Sudan

79.4%

Lowest

Argentina

2.3%

Top 5 Countries

1South Sudan79.4%

2Eritrea71.2%

3Djibouti70.5%

4Somalia67.2%

5Sierra Leone65.9%

By Region

Other32.7%(93 countries)

Africa29.3%(9 countries)

Asia15.9%(25 countries)

South America15.4%(7 countries)

North America13.7%(4 countries)

Key Findings

•Food insecurity varies widely across countries, from low single digits in several high-income countries to well over half the population in some fragile/conflict-affected states.
•Experience-based measurement captures access constraints that may not be visible in supply-side food availability statistics.
•The indicator is directly tied to SDG monitoring (2.1.2) and is designed for cross-country comparability.

Country Rankings

Top 10 Countries

Bottom 10 Countries

Data Analysis

Value Distribution

How countries are distributed across the value range

Low (0.5%)High (88.0%)

Regional Comparison

Average values by world region (Global avg: 23.8%)

Other (93)

Africa (9)

Asia (25)

South America (7)

North America (4)

Europe (32)

Oceania (2)

About This Statistic

This statistic measures the percentage of a country’s population experiencing **moderate or severe food insecurity**, using the **Food Insecurity Experience Scale (FIES)**. It captures people who, at some point during the year, were unable to access adequate food—ranging from compromising on food quality/quantity (moderate) to going a day or more without eating (severe). Because it is based on directly reported experiences, it provides an especially human-centered view of food access beyond calories or income.

FAO compiles this indicator from large-scale survey microdata (e.g., Gallup World Poll and national surveys) and produces internationally comparable estimates. It is widely used in SDG monitoring (SDG 2: Zero Hunger) and allows meaningful comparisons across countries and over time.

Full Data

Rank ↑	Country ↕	Value ↕
1	South Sudan	79.4%
2	Eritrea	71.2%
3	Djibouti	70.5%
4	Somalia	67.2%
5	Sierra Leone	65.9%
6	Yemen	63.8%
7	Equatorial Guinea	63.4%
8	Niger	62.9%
9	Democratic Republic of the Congo	62.5%
10	Malawi	61.6%
11	Zimbabwe	61.0%
12	Ethiopia	58.9%
13	Mali	58.8%
14	Liberia	58.1%
15	Burkina Faso	57.0%
16	Papua New Guinea	56.8%
17	Mozambique	56.4%
18	Cape Verde	55.8%
19	Guinea	55.2%
20	Rwanda	54.5%
21	Madagascar	53.7%
22	Zambia	53.0%
23	Burundi	52.0%
24	United Republic of Tanzania	51.6%
25	Republic of The Gambia	50.8%
26	Togo	50.7%
27	Haiti	49.7%
28	Guinea-Bissau	49.0%
29	Senegal	48.8%
30	Republic of the Congo	47.9%
31	Syrian Arab Republic	46.0%
32	Lesotho	45.3%
33	Chad	44.6%
34	Cote d'Ivoire	44.1%
35	Nigeria	43.8%
36	Uganda	43.2%
37	Venezuela	42.9%
38	Eswatini	42.8%
39	Gabon	39.9%
40	State of Palestine	38.5%
41	Ghana	38.1%
42	Pakistan	38.0%
43	India	37.4%
44	Sudan	35.8%
45	Barbados	35.7%
46	Kenya	35.1%
47	Timor-Leste	34.6%
48	North Korea	34.0%
49	Dominican Republic	33.1%
50	Bosnia and Herzegovina	32.4%
51	Mauritania	31.5%
52	Iraq	29.9%
53	Egypt	28.6%
54	Colombia	28.4%
55	Guyana	27.6%
56	Libya	27.2%
57	New Caledonia	27.0%
58	Cambodia	26.8%
59	Bolivia	25.9%
60	Suriname	25.7%
61	Tajikistan	24.9%
62	Namibia	24.4%
63	Honduras	24.0%
64	Nicaragua	23.6%
65	Albania	23.5%
66	South Africa	22.3%
67	Philippines	22.0%
68	Armenia	21.8%
69	Guatemala	21.5%
70	Peru	21.3%
71	Central African Republic	21.2%
72	Ecuador	20.9%
73	Vanuatu	20.8%
74	Mexico	20.5%
75	Brazil	20.4%
76	Paraguay	20.1%
77	Cameroon	19.1%
78	Myanmar	18.7%
79	Morocco	18.6%
80	El Salvador	18.0%
81	Tunisia	17.7%
82	Lao People's Democratic Republic	17.5%
83	Jamaica	17.3%
84	Nepal	17.2%
85	Lebanon	16.8%
86	Benin	16.4%
87	Panama	16.2%
88	Bangladesh	15.9%
89	Solomon Islands	15.2%
90	Jordan	14.9%
91	Islamic Republic of Iran	14.7%
92	Vietnam	14.6%
93	Afghanistan	14.2%
94	Belize	13.8%
95	Ukraine	13.5%
96	Falkland Islands (Malvinas)	13.4%
97	Trinidad and Tobago	13.4%
98	Åland Islands	13.2%
99	Sri Lanka	13.1%
100	Mauritius	12.6%
101	Brunei Darussalam	12.6%
102	Faroe Islands	12.4%
103	Moldova, Republic of	12.4%
104	Bulgaria	12.3%
105	Cuba	12.0%
106	Kyrgyzstan	11.9%
107	Angola	11.9%
108	Indonesia	11.4%
109	The Republic of North Macedonia	11.4%
110	Montenegro	11.2%
111	Türkiye	11.2%
112	Oman	10.9%
113	Costa Rica	10.8%
114	Romania	10.8%
115	Uzbekistan	10.7%
116	Bhutan	10.7%
117	Thailand	10.6%
118	Malaysia	10.3%
119	Kuwait	10.1%
120	Austria	9.9%
121	Qatar	9.5%
122	Serbia	9.2%
123	Israel	8.9%
124	Lithuania	8.7%
125	Russian Federation	8.7%
126	Cyprus	8.5%
127	Latvia	8.2%
128	Belarus	7.9%
129	Saudi Arabia	7.9%
130	Greece	7.8%
131	United States of America	7.8%
132	Uruguay	7.6%
133	Italy	7.4%
134	Portugal	7.3%
135	Georgia	7.2%
136	Kazakhstan	7.1%
137	Spain	7.1%
138	Croatia	7.0%
139	Chile	6.9%
140	Algeria	6.8%
141	Poland	6.7%
142	United Arab Emirates	6.7%
143	Hungary	6.6%
144	United Kingdom	6.6%
145	People's Republic of China	6.3%
146	Fiji	6.2%
147	Belgium	6.1%
148	France	5.9%
149	Mongolia	5.8%
150	Slovakia	5.8%
151	Japan	5.6%
152	Botswana	5.6%
153	Ireland	5.5%
154	Slovenia	5.5%
155	Germany	5.2%
156	Canada	5.1%
157	Luxembourg	5.0%
158	New Zealand	4.9%
159	Netherlands	4.8%
160	Czech Republic	4.7%
161	Sweden	4.7%
162	South Korea	4.6%
163	Bahrain	4.6%
164	Denmark	4.5%
165	Estonia	4.3%
166	Australia	4.1%
167	Finland	3.9%
168	Norway	3.6%
169	Singapore	3.6%
170	Switzerland	3.4%
171	Iceland	3.2%
172	Argentina	2.3%

Showing 172 of 172 countries

Topics

#statistic-of-the-day #ai-generated #food security #hunger #SDG2 #FIES #nutrition #poverty #FAO

Data Source

This data comes from Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) (2022).

View Original Source