Data for 2016

Prevalence of Moderate or Severe Food Insecurity, 2016

2016, as FAO’s 2026 release gives it · stored as published, never rewritten

Prevalence of Moderate or Severe Food Insecurity, 2016 covers 100 countries on 6 measures. Sierra Leone is highest, at 81.5; Japan is lowest, at 2.7. The middle country reads 16.0. Against 2015, 96 values changed (56 up, 40 down), 1 country joined.

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Prevalence of Moderate or Severe Food Insecurity · Data for 2016

HighestSierra Leone

81.5

LowestJapan

2.7

Shaded by value in five groups of equal size, darkest at the lowest end. A higher value is the worse result.

100countries
6measures per country
2016the year it describes
87distinct values1 decimal, as published
Oct 3, 2026read from the publisher
CC BY 4.0licence

01Position · derived

The table

Every country and every column of Prevalence of Moderate or Severe Food Insecurity, 2016, as published. FAO ranks nobody on this measure; the position is derived here by ordering the published values. “=” marks a shared position.

Search this table

Showing 25 of 100 countries · select a heading to sort

Prevalence of Moderate or Severe Food Insecurity, 2016: every country, as published by Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).
derived
1	Sierra LeoneSLEWestern Africa	81.5	81.4	81.5	83.2	79.8	5.9
2	LiberiaLBRWestern Africa	80.7	77.2	84.2	82.0	79.4	3.8
3	MalawiMWIEastern Africa	79.2	77.7	80.6	79.8	78.6	13.9
=4	ChadTCDMiddle Africa	71.3	67.9	74.6	72.7	69.8	10.8
=4	UgandaUGAEastern Africa	71.3	68.9	73.8	69.4	73.4	27.7
6	ZimbabweZWEEastern Africa	66.7	63.5	70.0	67.8	65.7	9.7
7	BeninBENWestern Africa	63.8	62.0	65.7	64.3	63.4	7.5
8	TogoTGOWestern Africa	62.2	59.7	64.6	60.3	64.1	4.5
9	EthiopiaETHEastern Africa	58.3	54.9	61.7	57.7	59.0	62.2
10	CameroonCMRMiddle Africa	55.3	49.7	60.9	55.1	55.5	13.0
11	TanzaniaTZAEastern Africa	55.0	52.8	57.2	57.2	52.9	29.6
12	KenyaKENEastern Africa	54.8	53.2	56.4	58.5	51.2	26.4
13	NamibiaNAMSouthern Africa	54.3	51.8	56.7	55.5	53.0	1.3
14	Dominican RepublicDOMCaribbean	54.0	51.5	56.4	58.3	49.7	5.7
15	GambiaGMBWestern Africa	52.7	49.2	56.3	52.9	52.6	1.2
16	ZambiaZMBEastern Africa	52.4	50.3	54.4	52.4	52.4	8.9
17	BotswanaBWASouthern Africa	51.3	47.4	55.2	55.2	47.5	1.1
=18	AfghanistanAFGSouthern Asia	49.6	43.8	55.4	52.8	46.5	17.2
=18	YemenYEMWestern Asia	49.6	45.6	53.6	52.9	46.3	15.9
20	JamaicaJAMCaribbean	47.4	42.6	52.1	52.7	42.0	1.3
21	IranIRNSouthern Asia	45.3	42.4	48.1	44.9	45.7	37.9
22	GuatemalaGTMCentral America	44.2	40.8	47.6	46.5	41.9	7.2
23	El SalvadorSLVCentral America	41.6	38.6	44.5	45.6	37.5	2.6
24	HondurasHNDCentral America	41.4	41.2	41.6	45.0	37.8	3.9
25	GhanaGHAWestern Africa	40.8	38.8	42.7	42.7	38.8	12.0
26	AlbaniaALBSouthern Europe	39.0	35.9	42.2	42.5	35.6	1.1
27	NigeriaNGAWestern Africa	38.7	35.7	41.7	38.1	39.3	75.6
=28	CambodiaKHMSouth-eastern Asia	37.1	33.6	40.5	40.6	33.6	5.9
=28	SenegalSENWestern Africa	37.1	34.7	39.5	32.8	41.4	5.6
30	Côte d’IvoireCIVWestern Africa	35.7	33.8	37.5	35.6	35.7	9.3
31	GeorgiaGEOWestern Asia	33.8	29.9	37.7	36.0	31.6	1.3
32	NepalNPLSouthern Asia	31.2	28.0	34.3	32.8	29.5	8.7
33	LibyaLBYNorthern Africa	30.9	28.2	33.7	35.8	26.1	2.1
34	PeruPERSouth America	30.4	29.6	31.2	34.9	25.9	9.4
35	BangladeshBGDSouthern Asia	30.3	26.3	34.3	30.8	29.8	48.7
36	EgyptEGYNorthern Africa	29.9	27.0	32.9	33.9	25.9	30.4
37	MauritaniaMRTWestern Africa	29.2	26.8	31.5	30.7	27.6	1.2
38	ArgentinaARGSouth America	25.9	22.9	29.0	29.8	22.1	11.4
39	TajikistanTJKCentral Asia	24.5	20.5	28.4	26.0	22.9	2.2
40	MexicoMEXCentral America	23.6	23.2	24.1	25.3	22.0	28.9
41	EcuadorECUSouth America	23.3	19.8	26.9	25.5	21.2	3.9
=42	ColombiaCOLSouth America	22.3	21.5	23.0	23.4	21.2	10.6
=42	UkraineUKREastern Europe	22.3	18.9	25.6	24.8	19.7	10.2
44	Saint LuciaLCACaribbean	22.2	18.6	25.9	22.2	22.2	—
45	AlgeriaDZANorthern Africa	21.5	17.7	25.3	23.0	20.0	8.8
46	MoldovaMDAEastern Europe	20.9	18.3	23.6	21.3	20.5	0.7
47	TunisiaTUNNorthern Africa	19.4	15.7	23.2	19.8	19.1	2.2
=48	MauritiusMUSEastern Africa	16.6	14.4	18.8	18.3	15.0	0.2
=48	RomaniaROUEastern Europe	16.6	14.0	19.1	18.8	14.3	3.3
50	GreeceGRCSouthern Europe	16.4	13.5	19.3	16.3	16.5	1.8
51	BrazilBRASouth America	15.6	15.3	15.9	18.0	13.3	31.7
52	MalaysiaMYSSouth-eastern Asia	15.1	12.9	17.2	14.0	16.1	4.8
53	SeychellesSYCEastern Africa	14.3	10.5	18.1	14.3	14.3	—
54	North MacedoniaMKDSouthern Europe	13.7	11.1	16.4	15.2	12.3	0.3
55	BulgariaBGREastern Europe	13.6	11.0	16.2	14.4	12.7	1.0
56	LithuaniaLTUNorthern Europe	13.3	10.9	15.7	13.8	12.7	0.4
57	PortugalPRTSouthern Europe	13.2	11.3	15.2	15.2	11.3	1.4
58	Costa RicaCRICentral America	12.9	12.2	13.7	14.3	11.6	0.6
59	SerbiaSRBSouthern Europe	12.8	10.3	15.2	13.9	11.6	1.1
60	KuwaitKWTWestern Asia	12.4	10.6	14.3	10.5	14.3	0.5
61	ChileCHLSouth America	12.2	11.5	12.8	13.5	10.8	2.2
62	PakistanPAKSouthern Asia	12.1	11.8	12.4	14.0	10.1	26.6
=63	AustraliaAUSAustralia and New Zealand	11.8	9.5	14.0	13.0	10.6	2.9
=63	SloveniaSVNSouthern Europe	11.8	9.9	13.8	14.4	9.3	0.2
=65	MontenegroMNESouthern Europe	11.3	8.8	13.7	12.2	10.3	—
=65	New ZealandNZLAustralia and New Zealand	11.3	9.3	13.3	13.7	8.9	0.5
67	IsraelISRWestern Asia	11.1	9.4	12.8	11.7	10.6	0.9
68	ParaguayPRYSouth America	10.6	7.5	13.8	11.0	10.4	0.7
69	Bosnia and HerzegovinaBIHSouthern Europe	10.3	7.8	12.7	9.3	11.2	0.4
70	United StatesUSANorthern America	9.8	9.5	10.1	10.8	8.8	32.1
71	LatviaLVANorthern Europe	9.5	7.8	11.2	10.4	8.6	0.2
72	HungaryHUNEastern Europe	9.4	7.4	11.3	10.8	8.0	0.9
73	RussiaRUSEastern Europe	8.9	7.2	10.5	9.1	8.6	12.9
74	FinlandFINNorthern Europe	8.4	6.7	10.1	9.5	7.4	0.5
75	EstoniaESTNorthern Europe	8.3	6.7	9.9	8.8	7.7	0.1
76	AzerbaijanAZEWestern Asia	7.7	6.0	9.3	7.8	7.5	0.8
77	SpainESPSouthern Europe	7.5	6.1	9.0	8.5	6.6	3.5
78	IndonesiaIDNSouth-eastern Asia	7.3	7.0	7.5	7.1	7.5	19.2
=79	IcelandISLNorthern Europe	7.2	5.2	9.2	8.7	5.7	—
=79	IrelandIRLNorthern Europe	7.2	5.9	8.5	6.7	7.6	0.3
81	CroatiaHRVSouthern Europe	6.9	4.9	8.9	7.8	6.0	0.3
=82	FranceFRAWestern Europe	6.3	5.0	7.6	6.2	6.5	4.1
=82	PolandPOLEastern Europe	6.3	4.8	7.7	7.6	4.9	2.4
84	United KingdomGBRNorthern Europe	6.1	4.9	7.3	8.0	4.3	4.0
=85	DenmarkDNKNorthern Europe	5.8	4.5	7.1	6.6	5.0	0.3
=85	Sri LankaLKASouthern Asia	5.8	5.5	6.2	5.2	6.4	1.3
87	MaltaMLTSouthern Europe	5.6	4.3	6.9	6.6	4.6	—
88	NetherlandsNLDWestern Europe	5.5	4.3	6.8	6.2	4.9	1.0
=89	SlovakiaSVKEastern Europe	5.3	3.8	6.8	6.3	4.4	0.3
=89	SwedenSWENorthern Europe	5.3	3.9	6.8	5.7	5.0	0.5
91	AustriaAUTWestern Europe	5.2	4.2	6.1	5.9	4.4	0.5
92	CzechiaCZEEastern Europe	5.1	3.8	6.4	5.7	4.4	0.5
=93	CanadaCANNorthern America	5.0	4.5	5.5	5.8	4.2	1.8
=93	NorwayNORNorthern Europe	5.0	3.6	6.3	5.4	4.5	0.3
=93	South KoreaKOREastern Asia	5.0	4.0	6.0	3.7	6.3	2.6
96	SwitzerlandCHEWestern Europe	4.2	2.8	5.6	4.2	4.2	0.3
97	LuxembourgLUXWestern Europe	4.0	3.0	5.0	4.3	3.8	—
98	GermanyDEUWestern Europe	3.8	2.8	4.7	3.7	3.8	3.1
99	SingaporeSGPSouth-eastern Asia	3.1	2.2	4.0	3.0	3.2	0.2
100	JapanJPNEastern Asia	2.7	1.8	3.6	2.1	3.3	3.4

02In 2016

At either end

The 5 countries at each end of the headline, then the highest and lowest on each other measure.

Highest

1Sierra Leone81.5
2Liberia80.7
3Malawi79.2
4Chadshared71.3
4Ugandashared71.3

Lowest

100Japan2.7
99Singapore3.1
98Germany3.8
97Luxembourg4.0
96Switzerland4.2

A higher value is the worse result. The middle country reads 16.0. “Shared” marks a value another country also holds.

Each measure’s ends

90% confidence interval, lower bound (%)
HighestSierra Leone81.4
LowestJapan1.8
Middle country: 13.8
90% confidence interval, upper bound (%)
HighestLiberia84.2
LowestJapan3.6
Middle country: 18.5
Women aged 15 and over (%)
HighestSierra Leone83.2
LowestJapan2.1
Middle country: 17.2
Men aged 15 and over (%)
HighestSierra Leone79.8
LowestSingapore3.2
Middle country: 14.7
People in moderate or severe food insecurity (millions)
HighestNigeria75.6
LowestEstonia0.1
Middle country: 2.8

032015 → 2016

Since 2015

What changed between 2015 and this one: who joined or left, and how far the headline moved.

+1 / −0countries joined / left
96values changed, of 99 in both
56 · 40rose · fell
3unchanged

Rose most

Benin55.0 → 63.8+8.8
Argentina19.2 → 25.9+6.7
Tanzania48.8 → 55.0+6.2
Sierra Leone75.8 → 81.5+5.7
Cameroon49.9 → 55.3+5.4

Fell most

Iran48.0 → 45.3−2.7
Romania19.3 → 16.6−2.7
Poland8.9 → 6.3−2.6
Cambodia39.6 → 37.1−2.5
Malaysia17.4 → 15.1−2.3

+ Gambia

Both years come from the same release, so a difference here is a change in the data, not a revision of it. Every country’s full history is charted on the statistic page.

04Caveats

Read before you use

What this edition’s numbers are and are not, worked out from the file itself.

The site’s method

One year of the 2026 release
Every year in this series comes from FAO’s 2026 release, recalculated on one method. It can differ from what was first published for 2016.
87 distinct values among 100
Values are stored exactly as published, to 1 decimal. 3 countries share 5.0. Countries sharing a value share a position too.
The position is ours
FAO publishes values only. The order here sorts the published values, and the page says so wherever it prints one.
Which end is better
A higher value is the worse result.
6 empty cells
An empty cell means the publisher gave no figure. It is never a zero.

05The files

Download and cite

The table as a file, digit for digit, what this site changed, and a citation for this edition.

Licence in full

.csv
For a spreadsheet or code
100 rows · 5.4 KB · UTF-8, opens in Excel
Opens with 11 lines of source notes; the table starts on row 13.
Download food-insecurity-2016-nations-inquiry.csv
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The publisher’s original
FAO’s own file, on its own site.
Food_Security_Data_E_All_Data_(Normalized).zip

What this site changed: Reshaped into one row per country: regional and income-group totals are left out, only the columns listed are kept, each row gets its ISO 3166 code, and some country names are brought to one spelling. No value is recalculated, rescaled or rounded.

Licence: CC BY 4.0. Share, adapt and use commercially. Credit the publisher and say if you changed anything.

Cite this edition

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) (2016). Prevalence of Moderate or Severe Food Insecurity, 2016 [data set], describing 2016. As held by Nations Inquiry, https://nationsinquiry.com/datasets/food-insecurity/2016

0610 held

Other years

‹ The year before
Prevalence of Moderate or Severe Food Insecurity, 2015
99 countries
The year after ›
Prevalence of Moderate or Severe Food Insecurity, 2017
114 countries
All of them
Prevalence of Moderate or Severe Food Insecurity: every year
10 held, with the data dictionary, coverage and licence.
How it has moved, charted by country

07Questions