The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2022

The cost and affordability of a healthy diet, and the change of these indicators from 2019 to 2020, are reported in Table 5 by region, subregion and country income groups, following the World Bank classification of countries by income level for 2021,³³ based on per capita gross national income (GNI) in 2020. Income classification is provided for all countries except Anguilla and Montserrat. In FAO, IFAD, UNICEF, WFP and WHO (2021),¹⁵ results were presented using the 2019 income classification. Therefore, the composition of countries by income groups may have changed between 2019 and 2020.

Cost and affordability are also reported at the country level in Table A3.1 for the reference year 2017 when the ICP data were released, as well as for 2018, 2019 and 2020 when the two indicators are updated using the methodology described in Annex 2E. In 2018–2020, the cost indicator was updated for 166 of the 169 countries with information available in 2017, while affordability was updated for 142 of the 143 countries. For two countries, Argentina and Zimbabwe, cost and affordability in 2018–2020 are used to estimate aggregate indicators shown in Table 5 but are not reported in Table A3.1. To update the costs in 2018–2020, PPP exchange rates for both countries are imputed, but they may not thoroughly reflect the severe currency devaluation and economic instability that the countries have experienced.

TABLE A3.1The cost and affordability of a healthy diet by region, subregion, country and country income group, 2017–2020

NOTES: The cost of a healthy diet is the benchmark 2017 USD cost per person per day, published in the 2020 edition of this report and revised as outlined in Box 6. The benchmark cost is updated in years 2018–2020 using FAOSTAT for country-level (food) CPI and WDI for PPP. For each region, subregion and country income group, the unaffordability estimated as the percent of the population unable to afford a healthy diet is population-weighted. The 2021 World Bank classification of countries by income group is used for all years from 2017 to 2020 and for all countries except Anguilla and Montserrat, for which income classification is not provided. See Annex 2E for a description of the methodology.
n.a. = data not available. n.r. = data not reported because of insufficient or unreliable data to update cost and affordability. * Cost and affordability of a healthy diet include Zimbabwe. ** Cost and affordability of a healthy diet include Argentina. ^a PPP was imputed in this year.
SOURCE: FAO.

Ranges of the affordability indicators, showing the percentage and number of people unable to afford a healthy diet in 2020, are presented in Table A3.2 by region and development status. Lower-bound estimates assume that 80 percent of income available is spent on food, where 80 percent represents the largest expenditure share on food observed in the ICP 2017 data (for Guinea-Bissau). Upper-bound estimates assume that the share of income reserved for food varies by country income group. Following ICP 2017 national accounts data, food expenditures represent, on average, 14 percent, 27 percent, 38 percent and 52 percent of total expenditures in HICs, UMICs, LMICs and LICs, respectively. For example, if the cost of a healthy diet is USD 3.00 in a LIC with an average food expenditure share of 52 percent, income would need to be USD 5.77 for a person to afford a healthy diet as well as non-food needs. For a full description of the methodology for determining the ranges, see Herforth et al. (2020).⁸⁶

TABLE A3.2Lower- and upper-bound estimates of the percentage and number of people (in millions) who cannot afford the cost of a healthy diet, by region and country income group in 2020

NOTES: Lower-bound estimates are calculated assuming that 80 percent of income is spent on food. Upper-bound estimates account for the fact that a portion of income can be spent on non-food items and are computed using average food expenditure shares that vary according to the World Bank’s classification by income group. They represent, on average, 14 percent, 27 percent, 38 percent and 52 percent of total expenditures in HICs, UMICs, LMICs and LICs, respectively.
SOURCE: FAO.