The cost of a healthy diet, published by FAO, is defined as the cost – in purchasing power parity (PPP) dollars per person per day – of the lowest-priced, locally available foods to achieve a calorie intake of 2 330 kcal/day, considering nutrient adequacy and diversified foods from several different food groups, in line with the recommendations of the national Food-Based Dietary Guidelines (FBDGs). Although the composition of a healthy diet varies among countries and territories, the consensus is that healthy diets should contain a balanced and diverse selection of foods from several food groups and ensure that a person's energy, macronutrient (proteins, fats and carbohydrates with dietary fibre), and essential micronutrient (vitamins, minerals and trace elements) intake needs are satisfied, considering factors such as their sex, age, physical activity level and physiological state (FAO, IFAD, UNICEF, WFP and WHO, 2020).16 Furthermore, these must be low in free sugars, non-sugar sweeteners, sodium, saturated fats and free from industrially produced trans-fats. 16 Based on this definition, a healthy diet is composed of six food groups: fats; starchy staples; legumes, nuts and seeds; fruits; vegetables, and animal-source foods.
In 2021, Latin America and the Caribbean had the highest average cost of a healthy diet compared to other regions of the world, reaching 4.08 PPP dollars per person per day, which is above the world average of 3.66 PPP dollars per person per day.
| Cost (PPP dollars per person per day) | Change (percent) | ||||||||
| 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2017-2018 | 2018-2019 | 2019-2020 | 2020-2021 | |
| World | 3.30 | 3.36 | 3.43 | 3.51 | 3.66 | 1.8 | 2.3 | 2.3 | 4.3 |
| Latin America and the Caribbean | 3.62 | 3.69 | 3.78 | 3.88 | 4.08 | 2.0 | 2.2 | 2.7 | 5.3 |
| Caribbean | 3.84 | 3.95 | 4.06 | 4.20 | 4.41 | 3.0 | 2.8 | 3.3 | 5.0 |
| Mesoamerica | 3.37 | 3.42 | 3.45 | 3.48 | 3.63 | 1.5 | 1.0 | 0.8 | 4.1 |
| South America | 3.42 | 3.44 | 3.50 | 3.59 | 3.82 | 0.6 | 1.9 | 2.4 | 6.4 |
As seen in FIGURE 24 and TABLE 15,17 the cost of a healthy diet increased by 5.3 percent between 2020 and 2021 at a regional level. This increase is related to the surge in food inflation that occurred in 2021, driven by lockdowns, disruptions in the global supply chain, and labour shortages as a consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic (FAO, IFAD, UNICEF, WFP and WHO, 2023). In terms of the subregions, South America had the highest increase (6.4 percent), followed by the Caribbean with 5 percent, and Mesoamerica with 4.1 percent. 17 See also Table 30 in Annex I.
In 2021, a total of 3.14 billion people globally could not afford a healthy diet, which represents 42.2 percent of the world population (TABLE 16). Although this represents a decrease of 52 million people compared to 2020, these figures are still above pre-pandemic levels, with an increase of 134 million more people compared to 2019. In Latin America and the Caribbean, 22.7 percent of the population – or 133.4 million people – were unable to afford a healthy diet. Of this total, 62.8 percent are in South America (83.8 million), followed by Mesoamerica (34.2 million) and the Caribbean (15.4 million). In 2021, as shown in TABLE 29, more than half of the population in the Caribbean could not afford a healthy diet (57 percent), followed by Mesoamerica (22.2 percent) and South America (20.6 percent).
FIGURE 25 and TABLE 16 show that, between 2020 and 2021, the number of people in the region who could not afford a healthy diet increased by 11.5 million people. This is mainly due to the increase in South America since, in this subregion, 15.4 million additional people were unable to afford a healthy diet, while in the Caribbean this figure increased by 600 000 people. A different reality is observed in Mesoamerica, where 4.5 million fewer people were unable to afford a healthy diet in 2021 compared to the previous year.
| Number of people (millions) | Change (millions) | ||||||||
| 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2017-2018 | 2018-2019 | 2019-2020 | 2020-2021 | |
| World | 3 124.9 | 3 019.1 | 3 005.5 | 3 191.9 | 3 139.5 | -105.8 | -13.6 | 186.4 | -52.4 |
| Latin America and the Caribbean | 124.5 | 119.5 | 120.0 | 121.9 | 133.4 | -5.0 | 0.5 | 1.9 | 11.5 |
| Caribbean | 13.6 | 13.4 | 13.7 | 14.8 | 15.4 | -0.2 | 0.3 | 1.1 | 0.6 |
| Mesoamerica | 38.3 | 37.3 | 35.7 | 38.7 | 34.2 | -1.0 | -1.6 | 3.0 | -4.5 |
| South America | 72.5 | 68.8 | 70.6 | 68.4 | 83.8 | -3.7 | 1.8 | -2.2 | 15.4 |
Access to a healthy diet varies considerably between subregions and countries (FIGURE 26 and TABLE 29). When comparing 2021 to the previous year, South America showed an increase in the number of people unable to afford a healthy diet of 22.5 percent. In the Caribbean this increase was 4.1 percent. In contrast, Mesoamerica showed a decrease of 11.6 percent.
In the Caribbean, most of Haiti’s population (92.6 percent) could not afford a healthy diet, and about two-thirds of Jamaica's population (62.6 percent) faced the same issue. On the other hand, the countries with the lowest percentages were the Dominican Republic (25.8 percent) and Trinidad and Tobago (9.9 percent)
In Mesoamerica, more than half of the population of Belize (53 percent) could not afford a healthy diet in 2021, followed by Honduras (44.8 percent) and Nicaragua (34.2 percent). In contrast, Costa Rica (14.2 percent), Panama (17 percent) and Mexico (20.2 percent) had the lowest percentages in the subregion.
As for South America, in Suriname 58.6 percent of the population could not afford a healthy diet, which was the highest percentage in the subregion. About a third of the population of Colombia faced the same situation. In Brazil, Peru and Ecuador, this varied between 20 and 26 percent. The countries that showed the lowest percentages in this subregion were Chile and Uruguay, with 3.5 and 5.2 percent respectively.
