The proportion of people experiencing a food crisis across dozens of countries has doubled in the past decade, a new report reveals, coinciding with data showing foreign aid has fallen to a ten-year low. The annual report, jointly published by aid partners including the UN's World Food Programme (WFP) and the European Union, notes that for the first time in its ten-year history, two territories — Sudan and Gaza — were classified as being in a state of famine last year.
Defining food crisis
A food crisis, as defined by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), occurs when households face significant food consumption gaps leading to high levels of malnutrition. The percentage of people worldwide facing such a crisis or worse has risen from 11.3 per cent in 2016 to 22.9 per cent in 2025.
“It’s been a decade since this report shed light on the alarming state of hunger worldwide. Unfortunately, the situation has only worsened,” said WFP Executive Director Cindy McCain. “The same countries are caught in a devastating cycle of hunger — fueled by conflict and compounded by inadequate funding. We have the expertise, resources, and knowledge to break the cycle of hunger, prevent famine, and save countless lives. What’s needed now is a collective effort to end conflicts and the necessary resources to drive real change.”
Key figures
Overall, some 266 million people across 47 territories were in a state of food crisis or worse in 2025. The 22.9 per cent figure is marginally higher than the 22.7 per cent recorded in 2024. Nigeria and the Democratic Republic of the Congo top the list for the number of people facing food crises, while Gaza and South Sudan have the highest proportion of their populations affected. Some 35.5 million children were acutely malnourished last year, including 10 million suffering from severe acute malnutrition, a life-threatening condition.
War and forced displacement are key drivers of food insecurity, with more than 85 million people forcibly displaced in food crisis contexts last year. “Conflict remains the primary driver of acute food insecurity and malnutrition for millions around the world, with outright famine emerging in two conflict-affected areas in the same year — an unprecedented development,” said UN Secretary-General António Guterres in his foreword to the report. “This report is a call to action urging global leaders to summon the political will to rapidly scale up investment in lifesaving aid, and work to end the conflicts that inflict so much suffering on so many.”
UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell added: “Millions of children on the verge of starvation must be a wake-up call to the world. This is not about scarcity of food but about the lack of political will to ensure that children everywhere have access to basic nutrition, safe water and the essential services they rely on to survive and grow.”
Outlook for 2026
Looking ahead to 2026, the report warns that ongoing conflicts, climate variability, and global economic uncertainty — including risks from the conflict in the Middle East — are likely to sustain or worsen conditions in many countries. Experts have expressed considerable fears that the war in Iran could hamper aid efforts, with the closure of the Strait of Hormuz adding three weeks to delivery times for humanitarian supplies to Sudan and driving up fuel prices in Somalia by more than 150 per cent, according to one report. There are also concerns about the willingness of Gulf States like Saudi Arabia and Qatar — collectively a bigger aid donor than the US last year — to continue providing humanitarian aid.
The authors also warn that sharply declining foreign aid from wealthy countries will limit the ability of governments and humanitarian actors to respond effectively to food crises. Funding for food crisis responses has fallen to levels last seen nearly a decade ago. Data published earlier in April shows that aid from the Development Assistance Committee (DAC) — a group of the world’s 34 richest nations — fell by 23.1 per cent to $174.3 billion (£129.8 billion) in 2025 compared to 2024. The US alone drove three-quarters of the decline with a 57 per cent cut in aid, while major cuts were also reported by other big donors including Germany (17.4 per cent), France (10.9 per cent), the United Kingdom (10.8 per cent), and Japan (5.6 per cent). The steep decline in US funding meant that Germany provided more aid ($29.1 billion) than the US ($29 billion) for the first time in history.
This article has been produced as part of The Independent’s Rethinking Global Aid project.
