Health

UN: Almost One in Three People Cannot Afford a Healthy Diet

Is the global hunger crisis a catastrophic emergency demanding urgent action or a manageable challenge within a positive long-term global trend?

Published JUL 21

UN: Almost One in Three People Cannot Afford a Healthy Diet

Story

Above: Displaced Palestinians, including children, at a food distribution point in the Nasr neighborhood, west of Gaza City, on June 14, 2026. Image credit: Ahmed Jihad Ibrahim Al-arini/Anadolu/Getty Images

The Facts

According to the U.N.'s State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World report released Tuesday, the global cost of a healthy diet rose 25% over five years, reaching $4.28 purchasing power parity dollars per person per day in 2025, up from $3.44 in 2021 — a figure that exceeds the extreme poverty line of $3 per person per day.
Big News Network
UPI
Food and Agriculture Organization
About 2.69 billion people — nearly one in three globally — could not afford a healthy diet in 2025, down from 2.97 billion in 2021. Africa had the highest rate, with roughly two-thirds of its population unable to afford nutritious food.
PhilSTAR L!fe
UPI
Food and Agriculture Organization
Staple foods such as grains and beans account for only 13% of the cost of a healthy diet, while animal-source foods make up nearly 30% and fruits and vegetables account for 16%, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization's (FAO) 2026 report.
The Star
EuroNews
Al Jazeera
However, global hunger declined for a third consecutive year in 2025, as an estimated 645 million people were affected — 14 million fewer than in 2024 and 43 million fewer than in 2022.
The Guardian
WHO
Al Jazeera
Africa surpassed Asia as the continent with the highest number of hungry people for the first time, as roughly 309 million people were undernourished in 2025, representing about one in five people on the continent.
The Guardian
UPI
Al Jazeera
FAO chief economist Maximo Torero warned that cuts in overseas development assistance to Africa and shipping disruptions through the Strait of Hormuz linked to the U.S.-Iran conflict could worsen food security figures in the 2026 report.
PhilSTAR L!fe
UPI
EL PAÍS English

Sources Split

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CENTER

RIGHT

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CRIT

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PRO
ESTAB

The Spin

Narrative A

Africa now has more hungry people than any other region — 309 million, or 1 in 5 — and two-thirds can't afford a healthy diet. Slashing foreign aid, including $1.4 billion in emergency nutrition funding, has pushed millions deeper into crisis and shuttered life-saving programs across the continent. Fixing this demands reversing aid cuts, tackling conflict and investing in climate-resilient food systems before the gains made elsewhere collapse entirely.

Raj Patel

Catherine Russell on X

Action Against Hunger US

Narrative B

Rising food prices can create real hardship, but prices alone do not tell the full story of human wellbeing. As incomes, productivity and access to food have improved, people can often afford more despite higher nominal prices. While millions still face hunger and urgent action remains essential, the long-term global trend is encouraging: famine has become rarer, and the share of people experiencing chronic hunger has generally declined over time.

Adam Smith Institute

Human Progress

Fundación Rafael del Pino

Narrative C

Global dietary recommendations are disconnected from agricultural reality and set people up to fail. Vegetables, nuts and fruit are expensive per calorie, and recommending them at current levels ignores that poor, hard-working people simply can't afford or sustain such diets. Adjusting recommendations to reflect what can actually be grown and afforded locally would do far more good than repeating targets almost nobody meets.