Global Report on Food Crises 2026, Causes, Key Findings

Global Report on Food Crises 2026 reveals that acute food insecurity remains critically high, with over 266 million people in 2025 experiencing severe hunger, nearly double the levels of a decade ago. Conflict is the primary driver, accounting for more than half of all people facing severe hunger.

About Global Report on Food Crises 2026

The Global Report on Food Crises 2026 is published under the Global Network Against Food Crises, a collaborative alliance involving the United Nations, European Union, and several international governmental and non-governmental organisations working to address food crises.

• It is a critical global assessment of acute food insecurity and malnutrition.
• It provides a consensus-based, evidence-driven analysis to guide humanitarian and development interventions.
• The 2026 edition marks the tenth anniversary of the report. 

Global Report on Food Crises 2026 Key Findings

The Global Report on Food Crises 2026 highlights that global hunger is becoming more widespread, severe, and prolonged, driven by conflict, climate shocks, and weakening support systems.

Widespread and Persistent Acute Food Insecurity

• In 2025, acute food insecurity remained widespread, affecting about 22.9 percent of the analysed population (266 million people) across 47 countries, slightly higher than 2024, nearly double the level in 2016, and consistently above 20 percent since 2020.

Apparent Stabilisation Due to Data Gaps

• The figure of 266 million people is mainly due to fewer countries being covered in 2025 compared to 2024, and does not indicate any real decline in acute food insecurity.

Sharp Rise in Catastrophic Hunger

• The most severe form of food insecurity, known as Catastrophe, People in this category face extreme food shortages, starvation, and a high risk of death.
• It affected about 1.4 million people across six countries and territories. This is an alarming increase of more than nine times compared to 2016.

Large Population in Emergency Conditions

• In 2025, over 39 million people in 32 countries or territories faced Emergency (IPC Phase 4) levels of food insecurity, accounting for 3.8 percent of the analysed population, with a slight increase from 2024.
• These populations require urgent humanitarian assistance to survive.

Largest Food Crises

• In 2025, Afghanistan, South Sudan, the Sudan and Yemen ranked among the largest food crises globally, in both relative and absolute terms.

Historic Famine Declaration

• In 2025, famine (IPC Phase 5) was confirmed for the first time in two places, Gaza Strip and Sudan, with the risk of famine continuing in these areas and also in South Sudan into 2026.

Food Crises Becoming Long-Term

• More than 80 percent of people facing severe food insecurity live in 33 countries or territories with long-term crises, where repeated shocks and deep structural problems keep hunger persistent.

Main Drivers of Food Insecurity

• Conflict and insecurity were the main causes of acute food insecurity, affecting countries that together account for more than half of the people facing severe hunger.
• Extreme weather events, such as droughts and floods, were responsible for about one-third of the global population facing high food insecurity.
• Economic shocks played a role in fewer countries compared to 2024, showing a reduced impact relative to other factors.

Decline in Humanitarian and Development Funding

• In 2025, financial support for food security and nutrition programmes in crisis-affected regions declined, even though global hunger levels remained very high.
• Both humanitarian assistance (emergency relief) and development funding (long-term support such as agriculture and resilience building) saw reductions.
• This decline has pushed funding levels back to what was seen in 2016-2017, indicating a significant rollback in global commitment.
• As a result, governments and humanitarian organisations face serious constraints in delivering food aid, nutrition services, and livelihood support.

Weakening of Data Systems

• The data systems that support the Global Report on Food Crises are increasingly at risk due to problems such as limited access and lack of funding.
• These challenges are weakening food security and nutrition information systems, making it harder to assess the real situation accurately.

Worsening Outlook for 2026

• Early data for 2026 shows that food insecurity remains at critical levels in many regions, even though the full assessment is still incomplete.
• The escalation of conflict in the Middle East is expected to increase risks for food-crisis countries, as it can disrupt global food supply chains, trade routes, and prices.
• These disruptions can have both direct effects (reduced supply) and indirect effects (higher prices and market instability), making the situation more severe.

Severe Child and Maternal Malnutrition

• Around 35.5 million children in 23 countries and territories were acutely malnourished in 2025.
• Out of these, nearly 10 million children were suffering from severe acute malnutrition, which is life-threatening.
• In addition, about 9.2 million pregnant and breastfeeding women across 21 countries and territories were also acutely malnourished.

Displacement and Food Insecurity

• In 2025, the number of forcibly displaced people in 46 countries and territories was about 85.1 million, showing a slight decrease.
• Around 74 percent of them were internally displaced.
• Most displaced people globally are living in regions affected by food crises.
• Available data from 17 countries shows that displaced populations face more severe food insecurity than local resident populations.

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