The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2025

Despite adequate global food production, millions of people go hungry or are malnourished because safe and nutritious food is not available, not accessible or, more often, not affordable. This reality threatens not only the achievement of Sustainable Development Goal 2 (SDG 2) and the global nutrition targets, but also the whole 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, by undermining people’s health and livelihoods, as well as the stability of global agrifood systems. This year's edition of The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World both examines this dynamic and shows how coordinated, evidence-based policies are essential to end hunger (SDG Target 2.1) and all forms of malnutrition (SDG Target 2.2), especially among children and youth, women, and vulnerable populations.

Low-income countries and communities bear the brunt of hunger, food insecurity, and malnutrition, and are disproportionately affected by food price inflation. In these contexts, poorer households spend a larger share of their income on food, meaning that even modest price increases can put food out of reach. At the same time, the costs of agrifood systems are getting higher and higher, which leaves small producers and family farmers with less income. In addition, food items that constitute a healthy diet tend to be the most expensive. Even in high-income countries, rising food prices are straining purchasing power, consumer confidence, and policy responses.

In 2020, food price inflation began to steadily rise and, despite a gradual decline in 2023, it outpaced the income growth of many vulnerable populations. This has hindered the recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, leaving hundreds of millions of people facing chronic hunger, and billions unable to afford healthy diets, with millions of children stunted, wasted or overweight. With less than five years remaining to achieve the 2030 Agenda, keeping the global pledge to end hunger and malnutrition is under serious threat.

The 2025 edition of The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World illustrates the status of key food security and nutrition indicators according to the latest available data, and calls for global coordination and targeted, evidence-based, country-led actions. These efforts must be inclusive, context-specific and aligned with the needs and priorities of each country to address today’s interconnected challenges. They must also be equitable, delivering tangible benefits for groups such as small-scale producers, women, children, youth and Indigenous Peoples.

We will continue to uphold the right to adequate food and nutrition, and to work together to support countries to build more efficient, more inclusive, more resilient, more sustainable and more just agrifood systems to ensure that affordable nutritious foods reach every community. We stand by our shared commitments to fulfil the promise of the Sustainable Development Goals and the Pact for the Future, so that safe and nutritious foods are available, accessible and affordable for all, today and tomorrow.