UN Agencies Report Global Hunger Fell Again in 2025, but Conflict and Funding Cuts Threaten Gains

Global hunger fell for a third consecutive year in 2025, according to a report released in Rome on July 21, 2026, by five United Nations agencies. But the agencies warned that the improvement remains fragile, uneven across regions and at risk from conflict, extreme weather and reductions in development and humanitarian funding.

The 2026 State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World estimated that 7.8% of the global population faced hunger in 2025. That was down from 8.1% in 2024 and 8.6% in 2022. In population terms, approximately 645 million people were affected in 2025—nearly 14 million fewer than in 2024 and nearly 43 million fewer than in 2022.

The report was produced by the Food and Agriculture Organization, the World Food Programme, UNICEF, the World Health Organization and the International Fund for Agricultural Development. Its central message combines a positive global trend with a warning: fewer people were estimated to be hungry worldwide, but the pace and distribution of improvement are not sufficient to meet the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030.

A global decline with uneven results

The figures are estimates, and the agencies note that they may be revised as underlying data improve. The global average also does not mean that hunger improved in every country or region. The source material for the report does not provide a full regional breakdown, so the overall decline cannot be used to describe conditions in specific countries.

That distinction matters for governments and aid organizations deciding where to direct food assistance, nutrition programs and longer-term development funds. A lower global estimate can coexist with severe deterioration in particular areas, especially where conflict, weather shocks or weak access to aid disrupt food supplies and household incomes.

The agencies specifically warned that the 2026 conflict in the Middle East, weather extremes and reduced development and humanitarian funding could reverse the progress recorded through 2025. The report also examines the cost of healthy diets, linking hunger measurement to the broader question of whether people can afford nutritious food rather than merely enough calories.

Food prices and humanitarian pressure

Recent food-market conditions offer mixed context for that warning. In a July 13 bulletin, the FAO reported that international wheat prices decreased in June 2026 as harvest activity advanced in the Northern Hemisphere. Maize prices also declined amid expectations of ample export supplies. The FAO bulletin tracks international and domestic food prices, but the approved material does not include a current global food-price index or establish that lower wheat and maize prices have translated into improved access for households everywhere.

In Gaza, the World Food Programme reports that 1.4 million people are facing high levels of acute food insecurity. WFP says it reaches approximately 1.5 million people in Gaza each month and estimates that it needs US$426 million for operations in Gaza and the West Bank from July through December 2026.

Those Gaza figures are a separate humanitarian assessment from the global hunger estimate. They should not be treated as a regional breakdown of the 2026 report or as a substitute for country-specific acute food-insecurity classifications. They do, however, illustrate why the agencies describe global progress as vulnerable: humanitarian needs can remain high even while the worldwide share of people facing hunger declines.

What comes next

The report gives policymakers a current evidence base for food prices, nutrition policy, humanitarian aid and food-security planning. The immediate funding period identified by WFP runs from July through December 2026, while the UN agencies’ broader warning points to the need to protect gains against conflict, extreme weather and funding reductions.

The headline number is therefore an improvement, not a resolution. The estimated fall from 8.6% in 2022 to 7.8% in 2025 shows movement in the right direction globally, but the agencies say the world remains off track for its 2030 hunger goals. Future assessments will also depend on improved data and whether governments and donors maintain support in places where the global trend is not being felt.