The number of people facing the risk of famine worldwide has doubled in one year

For the sixth year in a row, the number of people facing the highest levels of acute food insecurity is rising, while food aid and development budgets are plummeting . The Global Report on Food Crises , which compiles data from several international agencies (World Food Programme, International Fund for Agricultural Development [IFAD], Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations [FAO]...) published Friday, May 16, paints a worrying picture.

In 2024, nearly 300 million people in 53 countries analyzed were facing a food crisis, an increase of 13.7 million compared to 2023. In absolute numbers, as well as in prevalence, this is a level never reached, despite a slightly smaller number of countries analyzed than last year. "Hunger and malnutrition are spreading faster than our capacity to cope," the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres, declared in the preamble to the report.

While other periodic assessments document chronic food insecurity across the globe, the Food Crisis Report focuses on analyzing the most extreme hunger hotspots—most often following a shock (armed conflict, economic crisis, or climate event)—requiring an emergency response. It uses a food insecurity classification scale that distinguishes five levels before famine.

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