Overview

• The Welthunger-Index reports 673 million people undernourished worldwide and says progress has largely stalled since 2016.
• The number of people in acute famine roughly doubled from 2023 to 2024 to about two million, with an estimated 95 percent in Gaza and Sudan, where the UN has declared famine in and around Gaza City and about 641,000 people are in famine-like conditions.
• Wars triggered 20 acute food crises in the past year affecting nearly 140 million people, with climate shocks and economic instability compounding risks.
• Humanitarian budgets have fallen as military spending rises, prompting calls on donors, including the EU and national governments, to restore transparent funding and enforce accountability for starvation used as a method of warfare.
• Data gaps in conflict-affected and restricted areas such as the Palestinian territories, Sudan, Yemen, North Korea and Burundi hinder full assessment and likely obscure the real scale of hunger.