World off course: New data shows acute hunger and malnutrition rising in 2025

The European Commission’s Joint Research Centre’s latest research paints a grim picture of devastating food insecurity and nutrition crises, with no signs of improvement in 2025. Its report reveals that acute food insecurity rose from 281.6 million in 2023 to 295.3 million in 2024, primarily driven by Nigeria, Myanmar, and Sudan’s armed conflicts.

According to the new Global Report on Food Crises, around 37.7 million children and 10.9 million pregnant women suffered from acute malnutrition last year. The report also draws attention to the entire population in the Gaza Strip, which was exposed to acute food insecurity.

Twenty-six countries experienced a nutrition crisis, and trends from previous reports show that hunger and malnutrition are not decreasing. Conflict, civil insecurity, and funding cuts are fueling the food crisis, which is also impacted by economic shocks, weather extremes, and structural vulnerabilities.

“This Global Report on Food Crises is another unflinching indictment of a world dangerously off course,” says UN secretary-general António Guterres. “Long-standing crises are now being compounded by another, more recent one: the dramatic reduction in lifesaving humanitarian funding to respond to these needs.” 

“This is more than a failure of systems — it is a failure of humanity. Hunger in the 21st century is indefensible. We cannot respond to empty stomachs with empty hands and turned backs.”

Qu Dongyu, director-general, FAO, adds: “The path forward is clear: investment in emergency agriculture is critical, not just as a response, but as the most cost-effective solution to deliver significant long-lasting impact.”

2025 prospective

The report reveals that the primary drivers of food crises include ongoing conflicts, inflation, and drought. Decreases in foreign aid and funding restrict essential services, leading to further crises.

Catastrophic hunger has hit an all-time high since the GRFC began tracking in 2016 (Image credit: FAO).Additional conflicts in the Syrian Arab Republic and the Democratic Republic of Congo are reasons that will also hinder recovery from the food crisis this year. 

Inflation is expected to be high in Ethiopia, Nigeria, and Sudan. Rainfall will be poor in Afghanistan, parts of Pakistan, and southern Ethiopia during the crop season.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs warned that the upcoming lean period will worsen the humanitarian crisis in Nigeria’s Borno, Adamawa, and Yobe states. The organization launched a plan alongside the Nigerian government, which implements a multisector approach for these states focused on urgent food security.

Cuts in foreign assistance have begun to hinder the delivery of essential services such as food, nutrition, and livelihood support, as well as health, education, and water, sanitation, and health.

These cuts limit the collection of data and evidence necessary for a timely response. The report authors predict that further aid losses will exacerbate the food and nutrition crisis, potentially leaving 2.3 million children without access to severe acute malnutrition treatment, according to research.

Conflicts, climate shocks, and funding cuts are driving the crisis.Hadja Lahbib, EU commissioner for Equality, Preparedness and Crisis Management, says: “This is not merely a call to action — it is a moral imperative. At a time when funding cuts are straining the humanitarian system, we reaffirm our commitment to fight global hunger. We will not abandon the most vulnerable, especially in fragile and conflict-affected countries.”

The most affected 

In the list of ten countries with the highest food crisis based on the number of people affected, Nigeria came first with 31.8 million people.

Bangladesh (23.6 million), Ethiopia (22.0 million), Yemen (16.7 million), Afghanistan (15.8 million), Myanmar (14.4 million), Pakistan (11.8 million), and the Syrian Arab Republic (9.2 million) are next in line, followed by Sudan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (both with 25.6 million affected). 

These ten countries remain the same as the worst hit in 2023. They account for over 65% of the total population, or 196 million, in need of urgent assistance. 

The list of the proportion of people facing high levels of acute food insecurity is led by the Gaza Strip (100%). It is followed by South Sudan (56%), Sudan (54%), Yemen (48%), Haiti (48%), Namibia (41%), Central African Republic (41%), Syrian Arab Republic (39%), Afghanistan (36%), and Zambia (33%).

For the first time, the report also analyzes the nutrition crisis, with 26 out of 53 locations experiencing food crises and acute malnutrition. Sudan, Palestine (Gaza Strip), Mali, and Yemen are facing the most severe nutrition crises — famine in the regions of Sudan, a risk of famine in the Gaza Strip, and extremely critical conditions in Mali and Yemen. 

Nearly 300 million people will face acute food insecurity in 2025, up from last year.Last year, around 10.9 million breastfeeding or pregnant women in 22 out of 53 countries were acutely malnourished. Also, approximately 37.7 million children aged from six to 59 months experienced acute malnutrition.

Food and nutrition crisis

Several factors contribute to food and nutrition crises, with armed conflicts as the leading cause in 20 countries (140 million people), followed by weather extremes affecting 17 countries. 

Specifically, the 2023–24 El Niño-induced drought in Southern Africa led to harvest failures and livestock deaths, exacerbating food and nutrition security. Economic shocks — inflation and currency devaluation — were the main drivers in 15 countries (9.4 million people). 

“Out of the 26 documented nutrition crises, data on risk factors were available for 24. Of these, 16 had ‘very high’ risk factors for acute malnutrition in all three pathways — food, care and services, and health,” says the European Commission.

It emphasizes that addressing acute malnutrition requires a comprehensive approach that tackles the three pathways.

Raouf Mazou, Assistant High Commissioner for Operations, UNHCR, calls for a “shift from emergency aid to sustainable responses. That means creating real opportunities — access to land, livelihoods, markets and services — so people can feed themselves and their families, not just today, but well into the future.”

Meanwhile, Cindy McCain, executive director at WFP, highlights the impacts of budget shortfalls that every other humanitarian organization is facing and calls for the support of donors and partners to implement solutions to hunger and food insecurity.