Countries by Prevalence of moderate or severe food insecurity in the population (%)

Sierra Leone ranks first among 157 countries with 89.8% of its population living in moderate or severe food insecurity, meaning nearly nine in ten people face inadequate diets or reduced food quantity. At the other end, Belarus ranks last at 1.1%, a gap of 88.7 percentage points. That spread reflects the extreme divergence in food access conditions across the countries measured.

Population & Health category

Ranking 2023

Values shown in %.

Countries by Prevalence of moderate or severe food insecurity in the population (%)
Rank	Country	%
1	Sierra Leone	89.80
2	Central African Republic	88.10
2	South Sudan	88.10
4	Haiti	83.20
5	Malawi	81.70
6	DR Congo	81.50
7	Afghanistan	80.80
7	Liberia	80.80
9	Comoros	79.70
10	Somalia	79.50
11	Angola	78.50
12	Nigeria	74.80
13	Kenya	73.90
14	Yemen	73.00
15	Madagascar	72.60
16	Burundi	70.80
17	Zimbabwe	68.80
18	Chad	66.30
18	Mauritania	66.30
20	Benin	65.60
21	Guinea-Bissau	62.50
22	Ethiopia	61.40
23	Cameroon	61.20
24	Lesotho	59.90
25	Eswatini	59.00
26	Togo	58.50
27	Tanzania	58.00
28	Papua New Guinea	57.30
29	Jamaica	56.40
30	Namibia	55.90
31	Gambia	54.80
32	Sao Tome and Principe	54.60
32	Uganda	54.60
34	Botswana	53.90
35	Timor-Leste	53.70
36	Niger	50.90
37	Djibouti	49.20
38	Guatemala	48.80
39	Belize	45.50
39	El Salvador	45.50
41	Zambia	45.30
42	Ghana	44.50
43	Dominican Republic	43.80
44	Kiribati	42.90
45	Lebanon	42.40
46	Pakistan	42.10
47	Burkina Faso	41.40
48	Honduras	41.30
49	Peru	41.00
50	Cambodia	40.00
51	Iran	38.80
52	Côte d'Ivoire	38.40
53	Nepal	36.60
54	Suriname	35.80
55	Laos	35.60
56	Libya	35.10
57	Dominica	34.40
58	Argentina	33.80
59	Ecuador	33.30
59	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	33.30
61	Albania	33.00
62	Philippines	32.90
63	Myanmar	32.70
64	Ukraine	32.50
65	Cabo Verde	32.10
66	Barbados	31.10
66	Mauritius	31.10
68	Egypt	30.80
69	Nauru	29.90
70	Fiji	29.20
71	Senegal	29.10
72	Palau	28.10
73	Colombia	27.80
74	Trinidad and Tobago	27.60
75	Palestine	27.00
76	Georgia	26.60
77	Paraguay	26.20
78	Guyana	25.50
79	Tunisia	25.40
80	Moldova	25.10
80	Tajikistan	25.10
82	Uzbekistan	24.40
83	Vanuatu	23.30
84	Saint Lucia	22.20
85	Saint Kitts and Nevis	21.10
86	South Africa	20.70
87	Mali	20.60
88	Mexico	19.30
89	Chile	19.20
90	Romania	18.60
90	Samoa	18.60
92	Algeria	17.60
93	Grenada	17.30
93	New Zealand	17.30
95	Bahamas	17.20
96	Malaysia	16.70
97	Uruguay	16.20
98	Hungary	15.60
99	Costa Rica	15.40
100	North Macedonia	15.20
101	Tonga	14.80
102	Seychelles	14.30
103	Azerbaijan	14.00
104	Australia	13.80
105	Antigua and Barbuda	13.50
105	Brazil	13.50
107	Finland	13.40
107	Maldives	13.40
109	Portugal	11.90
110	Bulgaria	11.60
111	Latvia	11.20
111	Sri Lanka	11.20
113	Estonia	10.80
114	Vietnam	10.70
115	Montenegro	10.40
116	United States	10.30
117	Canada	10.20
118	Czechia	10.00
119	Bosnia and Herzegovina	9.90
120	Serbia	9.50
120	Singapore	9.50
122	Israel	9.20
122	Malta	9.20
124	France	8.40
124	Kuwait	8.40
126	Slovenia	8.20
127	Belgium	8.10
128	Armenia	7.80
128	Iceland	7.80
128	Norway	7.80
131	Netherlands	7.50
131	Slovakia	7.50
133	Kyrgyzstan	7.00
134	Denmark	6.90
134	Sweden	6.90
134	United Kingdom	6.90
137	Greece	6.60
138	Lithuania	6.50
138	Spain	6.50
140	Croatia	6.00
141	Japan	5.80
142	South Korea	5.40
142	Thailand	5.40
144	Ireland	4.80
144	Mongolia	4.80
146	Austria	4.70
147	Indonesia	4.50
148	Germany	4.10
149	United Arab Emirates	3.60
150	Poland	3.40
151	Russia	2.80
152	Luxembourg	2.60
153	Kazakhstan	2.00
153	Switzerland	2.00
155	Italy	1.70
156	Cyprus	1.40
157	Belarus	1.10

Analysis

This metric measures the percentage of people in the population who live in households classified as moderately or severely food insecure. According to the source definition, a household is classified as moderately or severely food insecure when at least one adult in the household has reported to have been exposed, at times during the year, to low quality diets and might have been forced to also reduce the quantity of food they would normally eat. The unit is the percentage of the national population. Data comes from the World Bank World Development Indicators, indicator code SN.ITK.MSFI.ZS, with a reference year of 2023. Coverage spans 157 countries, with 155 of 157 (98.7%) having data from the last seven years. All 157 datapoints are classified as official quality. No extreme outliers were detected using a 3-standard-deviation threshold, and the average year-over-year change is 6.9%, indicating moderate volatility across the dataset.

The top of the ranking is dominated by sub-Saharan African countries and fragile states. Sierra Leone leads at 89.8% (rank 1), followed by Central African Republic and South Sudan, both at 88.1% (rank 2). Haiti ranks 4th at 83.2%, the only non-African country in the top ten. Malawi (81.7%, rank 5), Democratic Republic of Congo (81.5%, rank 6), Afghanistan (80.8%, rank 7), Liberia (80.8%, rank 7), Comoros (79.7%, rank 9), and Somalia (79.5%, rank 10) complete the top ten. All ten countries exceed 79%, placing a large share of their populations in food insecure conditions.

The middle of the ranking shows considerable geographic diversity. Jamaica ranks 29th at 56.4%, placing it alongside several African nations. Iran ranks 51st at 38.8%, while Argentina ranks 58th at 33.8%. Ukraine ranks 64th at 32.5%. New Zealand ranks 93rd at 17.3%, sharing that position with Grenada. The United States ranks 116th at 10.3% and Canada ranks 117th at 10.2%, placing both near the lower portion of the distribution. At the lower end, Belarus ranks last at 1.1%, Cyprus ranks 156th at 1.4%, and Italy ranks 155th at 1.7%.

This metric relies on self-reported household survey data, which introduces recall bias and variation in how respondents interpret survey questions. The definition captures exposure at any point during the year, meaning seasonal or short-term disruptions can elevate a country's figure regardless of typical conditions. Survey methodology, sample sizes, and field implementation differ across countries, which may affect comparability. The metric covers only the moderate-to-severe threshold and does not separately quantify severe food insecurity alone. Countries with older or interpolated data, including 2 of 157 with data outside the last seven years, may not reflect current conditions. Coverage is limited to countries with available survey data and excludes some territories entirely.

Methodology

Data is sourced from the World Bank World Development Indicators, indicator code SN.ITK.MSFI.ZS, with a reference data year of 2023. The metric measures the percentage of people in the population who live in households classified as moderately or severely food insecure. Per the source definition: a household is classified as moderately or severely food insecure when at least one adult in the household has reported to have been exposed, at times during the year, to low quality diets and might have been forced to also reduce the quantity of food they would normally eat. The ranking covers 157 countries. Of these, 155 of 157 (98.7%) have data from the last seven years, and 100% of datapoints are classified as official quality. No extreme outliers were identified at the 3-standard-deviation threshold. The average year-over-year change across the dataset is 6.9%. Values range from 1.1% (Belarus) to 89.8% (Sierra Leone), a spread of 8,063.6%. The metric is expressed as a percentage of the national population. Higher values indicate greater prevalence of food insecurity and are treated as higher-ranked in this reference.

Sources

World Bank