Chapter 4 Updates to the cost and affordability of a healthy diet

Key messages
  • The cost of a healthy diet (CoHD) in the Arab States reached 4.26 PPP dollars per person per day in 2024, an increase of 3.2 percent from 2023 and 36.5 percent from 2019. This was slightly below the global average of 4.46 PPP dollars.
  • Lower-middle-income countries recorded the highest CoHD in 2024, at 4.74 PPP dollars, followed by low-income countries at 4.52 PPP dollars. In contrast, high-income countries had the lowest cost, at 3.22 PPP dollars.
  • In 2024, 186 million people in the Arab States could not afford a healthy diet, representing 37.8 percent of the population, compared with the global average of 31.9 percent (2.6 billion people). The regional share increased by 7.2 percentage points between 2022 and 2024, in contrast to the declining global trend.
  • By income group, the highest prevalence of unaffordability in 2024 was recorded in low-income countries (55.2 percent), followed by lower-middle-income countries (39.7 percent) and upper-middle-income countries (25.3 percent). Data for high-income countries were not available, but levels are expected to remain well below regional averages.