Global Report: 266 Million Faced Acute Hunger in 2025 Across 47 Countries

A coalition of development and humanitarian organizations published the 2026 Global Report on Food Crises on Wednesday, highlighting that acute hunger has doubled over the past decade. The report, marking its 10th edition as an annual hunger monitor, detailed high levels of acute food insecurity affecting 266 million people across 47 countries and territories in 2025.

Al-Monitor reported these findings, underscoring the persistent nature of global food crises.

Two famines were declared in 2025 in Gaza and Sudan, the first such declarations in the report's history. 1.4 million people faced catastrophic conditions in parts of Haiti, Mali, Gaza, South Sudan, Sudan and Yemen during that year. 35.5 million children worldwide were acutely malnourished in 2025, including nearly 10 million suffering from severe acute malnutrition.

Looking ahead, the report projected that only Haiti would escape the worst catastrophic band in 2026, due to slight improvements in security and increased humanitarian aid. Al-Monitor detailed how West Africa and the Sahel, including Nigeria, Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso, remain under pressure from conflict and inflation, while failed rains in the Horn of Africa are set to deepen suffering in Somalia and Kenya.

The International Fund for Agricultural Development, which helps compile the annual report, addressed the escalating challenges. The war on Iran has heightened concerns. He said the conflict has added to the alarm, warning that prolonged disruptions to energy and fertilizer trade could spill over into global food markets.

This would worsen hunger in import-dependent countries already in crisis. Al-Monitor reported that these warnings come amid broader trends of declining aid. Humanitarian food-sector funding dropped by 39% in 2025 from 2024 levels, while development assistance for food sectors contracted by at least 15%.

The report projected that humanitarian and development financing for food sectors in crisis would decline further in 2026. Al-Monitor highlighted how these funding shortfalls, combined with conflict and drought, will keep global hunger at critical levels. In East Africa, insecurity, high food prices and reduced aid are likely to drive worsening conditions.

A file photo from the report's context showed a Sudanese orphaned child refugee from al-Fashir eating a free meal provided by the Group Kitchen Project inside the Tine transit camp in eastern Chad on November 22, 2025, amid the conflict between the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces and the Sudanese army.

Such scenes illustrate the human toll detailed in the findings. The coalition's analysis emphasized that these crises stem from a mix of war, environmental factors and shrinking international support.