Data for 2018
Prevalence of Moderate or Severe Food Insecurity, 2018
2018, as FAO’s 2026 release gives it · stored as published, never rewritten
Prevalence of Moderate or Severe Food Insecurity, 2018 covers 121 countries on 6 measures. South Sudan is highest, at 84.9; Kazakhstan is lowest, at 2.4. The middle country reads 20.7. Against 2017, 96 values changed (47 up, 49 down), 10 countries joined, 3 left.
Prevalence of Moderate or Severe Food Insecurity · Data for 2018
HighestSouth Sudan
84.9
LowestKazakhstan
2.4Shaded by value in five groups of equal size, darkest at the lowest end. A higher value is the worse result.
01Position · derived
The table
Every country and every column of Prevalence of Moderate or Severe Food Insecurity, 2018, as published. FAO ranks nobody on this measure; the position is derived here by ordering the published values. “=” marks a shared position.
Showing 25 of 121 countries · select a heading to sort
| derived | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | South SudanSSDEastern Africa | 84.9 | 83.7 | 86.1 | 84.9 | 84.9 | 8.7 |
| 2 |  Sierra LeoneSLEWestern Africa | 83.0 | 83.0 | 83.1 | 84.7 | 81.3 | 6.3 |
| 3 |  MalawiMWIEastern Africa | 78.8 | 77.4 | 80.3 | 79.4 | 78.2 | 14.6 |
| 4 |  ChadTCDMiddle Africa | 76.3 | 73.2 | 79.3 | 78.1 | 74.4 | 12.3 |
| 5 |  UgandaUGAEastern Africa | 75.0 | 72.6 | 77.5 | 72.9 | 77.1 | 31.2 |
| 6 |  ZimbabweZWEEastern Africa | 66.7 | 63.0 | 70.5 | 68.1 | 65.3 | 10.0 |
| 7 |  BeninBENWestern Africa | 65.8 | 64.0 | 67.7 | 66.3 | 65.4 | 8.2 |
| 8 |  KenyaKENEastern Africa | 64.4 | 62.9 | 66.0 | 68.7 | 60.2 | 32.3 |
| 9 |  Guinea-BissauGNBWestern Africa | 61.8 | 59.4 | 64.3 | 61.8 | 61.8 | 1.2 |
| 10 |  TogoTGOWestern Africa | 59.6 | 57.2 | 62.0 | 57.8 | 61.4 | 4.5 |
| 11 |  MadagascarMDGEastern Africa | 58.0 | 55.6 | 60.4 | 60.9 | 55.1 | 16.0 |
| 12 |  EthiopiaETHEastern Africa | 57.9 | 54.4 | 61.4 | 54.7 | 61.1 | 65.3 |
| 13 |  AfghanistanAFGSouthern Asia | 57.6 | 54.0 | 61.1 | 62.8 | 52.4 | 21.2 |
| 14 |  Papua New GuineaPNGMelanesia | 57.3 | 55.2 | 59.4 | 57.3 | 57.3 | 5.4 |
| 15 |  CameroonCMRMiddle Africa | 57.0 | 51.4 | 62.6 | 56.8 | 57.1 | 14.1 |
| 16 |  NamibiaNAMSouthern Africa | 56.5 | 54.0 | 58.9 | 57.5 | 55.4 | 1.5 |
| 17 |  TanzaniaTZAEastern Africa | 56.1 | 53.9 | 58.3 | 56.0 | 56.2 | 32.2 |
| 18 |  GambiaGMBWestern Africa | 54.3 | 50.9 | 57.6 | 53.9 | 54.7 | 1.3 |
| 19 |  ZambiaZMBEastern Africa | 54.2 | 52.2 | 56.3 | 54.2 | 54.2 | 9.8 |
| 20 |  BotswanaBWASouthern Africa | 53.1 | 49.2 | 57.0 | 57.1 | 49.1 | 1.2 |
| 21 |  Dominican RepublicDOMCaribbean | 52.6 | 49.6 | 55.6 | 55.7 | 49.4 | 5.7 |
| 22 |  NigerNERWestern Africa | 50.0 | 47.4 | 52.6 | 49.8 | 50.2 | 11.1 |
| 23 |  LesothoLSOSouthern Africa | 49.7 | 47.7 | 51.7 | 49.3 | 50.1 | 1.1 |
| 24 |  NigeriaNGAWestern Africa | 47.1 | 43.5 | 50.7 | 48.1 | 46.1 | 96.5 |
| 25 |  YemenYEMWestern Asia | 46.0 | 41.8 | 50.2 | 49.1 | 42.9 | 15.7 |
| 26 |  JamaicaJAMCaribbean | 45.8 | 40.9 | 50.7 | 51.1 | 40.5 | 1.3 |
| 27 |  GuatemalaGTMCentral America | 45.2 | 42.1 | 48.4 | 48.7 | 41.8 | 7.6 |
| 28 |  El SalvadorSLVCentral America | 42.2 | 39.1 | 45.3 | 47.5 | 37.0 | 2.6 |
| 29 |  PhilippinesPHLSouth-eastern Asia | 41.2 | 39.7 | 42.7 | 39.4 | 43.0 | 45.1 |
| 30 |  KiribatiKIRMicronesia | 41.0 | 36.8 | 45.2 | 41.0 | 41.0 | — |
| 31 |  HondurasHNDCentral America | 40.9 | 40.7 | 41.1 | 42.6 | 39.1 | 4.0 |
| 32 |  IranIRNSouthern Asia | 40.6 | 37.7 | 43.4 | 40.0 | 41.1 | 34.9 |
| 33 |  GhanaGHAWestern Africa | 39.5 | 37.5 | 41.5 | 41.4 | 37.6 | 12.1 |
| 34 |  Burkina FasoBFAWestern Africa | 39.1 | 35.6 | 42.6 | 38.0 | 40.2 | 8.0 |
| 35 |  GeorgiaGEOWestern Asia | 38.3 | 34.8 | 41.7 | 40.4 | 36.1 | 1.5 |
| 36 |  Côte d’IvoireCIVWestern Africa | 38.2 | 36.4 | 40.1 | 38.2 | 38.3 | 10.5 |
| 37 |  AlbaniaALBSouthern Europe | 37.1 | 34.1 | 40.2 | 40.7 | 33.6 | 1.1 |
| =38 |  Cabo VerdeCPVWestern Africa | 36.4 | 32.5 | 40.3 | 36.4 | 36.4 | 0.2 |
| =38 |  CambodiaKHMSouth-eastern Asia | 36.4 | 32.9 | 39.8 | 39.2 | 33.5 | 5.9 |
| 40 |  MauritaniaMRTWestern Africa | 35.9 | 33.7 | 38.0 | 34.9 | 36.8 | 1.6 |
| 41 |  ArgentinaARGSouth America | 35.8 | 32.5 | 39.1 | 40.3 | 31.2 | 16.0 |
| 42 |  LibyaLBYNorthern Africa | 35.7 | 32.8 | 38.7 | 41.4 | 30.1 | 2.4 |
| 43 |  SenegalSENWestern Africa | 35.1 | 32.7 | 37.5 | 31.0 | 39.1 | 5.6 |
| 44 |  NepalNPLSouthern Asia | 33.8 | 30.8 | 36.8 | 32.6 | 35.0 | 9.5 |
| 45 |  Saint Vincent and the GrenadinesVCTCaribbean | 33.3 | 32.2 | 34.4 | 33.3 | 33.3 | — |
| =46 |  EgyptEGYNorthern Africa | 31.2 | 28.6 | 33.9 | 34.4 | 28.1 | 33.0 |
| =46 |  PeruPERSouth America | 31.2 | 30.4 | 32.0 | 33.9 | 28.5 | 9.9 |
| 48 |  BangladeshBGDSouthern Asia | 30.0 | 27.3 | 32.7 | 30.0 | 30.0 | 49.1 |
| 49 |  EcuadorECUSouth America | 29.2 | 25.8 | 32.7 | 30.9 | 27.7 | 5.0 |
| 50 |  TajikistanTJKCentral Asia | 28.8 | 25.5 | 32.0 | 29.9 | 27.7 | 2.7 |
| 51 |  MoldovaMDAEastern Europe | 27.5 | 24.6 | 30.3 | 30.6 | 24.3 | 0.9 |
| 52 |  ColombiaCOLSouth America | 26.5 | 25.8 | 27.3 | 29.6 | 23.5 | 13.0 |
| 53 |  MaliMLIWestern Africa | 25.2 | 22.4 | 28.0 | 26.1 | 24.3 | 5.1 |
| 54 |  MexicoMEXCentral America | 23.8 | 23.3 | 24.2 | 26.5 | 21.0 | 29.6 |
| 55 |  GrenadaGRDCaribbean | 23.6 | 16.7 | 30.5 | 23.6 | 23.6 | — |
| 56 |  VanuatuVUTMelanesia | 23.3 | 21.1 | 25.5 | 23.3 | 23.3 | — |
| 57 |  SamoaWSMPolynesia | 23.2 | 20.7 | 25.7 | 23.2 | 23.2 | — |
| 58 |  TunisiaTUNNorthern Africa | 22.1 | 18.9 | 25.4 | 23.1 | 21.2 | 2.6 |
| 59 |  ParaguayPRYSouth America | 21.3 | 18.2 | 24.5 | 21.9 | 20.8 | 1.4 |
| 60 |  Saint Kitts and NevisKNACaribbean | 21.1 | 15.7 | 26.4 | — | — | — |
| 61 |  MauritiusMUSEastern Africa | 20.7 | 18.3 | 23.1 | 22.5 | 18.9 | 0.3 |
| 62 |  UkraineUKREastern Europe | 18.3 | 15.7 | 20.9 | 21.1 | 15.6 | 8.3 |
| 63 |  AlgeriaDZANorthern Africa | 17.6 | 14.5 | 20.7 | 19.1 | 16.1 | 7.5 |
| 64 |  South AfricaZAFSouthern Africa | 17.4 | 16.3 | 18.4 | 19.0 | 15.8 | 10.2 |
| 65 |  ChileCHLSouth America | 15.3 | 14.6 | 15.9 | 17.1 | 13.5 | 2.9 |
| 66 |  MalaysiaMYSSouth-eastern Asia | 15.1 | 12.9 | 17.2 | 14.0 | 16.1 | 5.0 |
| 67 |  ArmeniaARMWestern Asia | 14.8 | 14.6 | 15.0 | 16.3 | 13.3 | 0.4 |
| 68 |  LebanonLBNWestern Asia | 14.7 | 12.0 | 17.5 | 12.4 | 17.1 | 0.9 |
| =69 |  Costa RicaCRICentral America | 14.5 | 13.8 | 15.2 | 16.6 | 12.4 | 0.7 |
| =69 |  RomaniaROUEastern Europe | 14.5 | 12.1 | 16.9 | 16.0 | 12.9 | 2.8 |
| 71 |  North MacedoniaMKDSouthern Europe | 14.4 | 11.8 | 17.1 | 15.0 | 13.8 | 0.3 |
| =72 |  BrazilBRASouth America | 14.2 | 13.8 | 14.7 | 16.4 | 12.1 | 29.3 |
| =72 |  PakistanPAKSouthern Asia | 14.2 | 13.9 | 14.5 | 15.8 | 12.6 | 32.2 |
| 74 |  New ZealandNZLAustralia and New Zealand | 13.9 | 11.8 | 16.0 | 15.5 | 12.3 | 0.7 |
| =75 |  AustraliaAUSAustralia and New Zealand | 13.3 | 10.8 | 15.8 | 13.6 | 13.0 | 3.3 |
| =75 |  GreeceGRCSouthern Europe | 13.3 | 10.5 | 16.0 | 14.3 | 12.2 | 1.4 |
| =75 |  UruguayURYSouth America | 13.3 | 12.2 | 14.4 | 14.8 | 11.7 | 0.4 |
| 78 |  MontenegroMNESouthern Europe | 12.9 | 10.1 | 15.6 | 13.8 | 11.9 | — |
| 79 |  IsraelISRWestern Asia | 12.7 | 11.0 | 14.4 | 12.8 | 12.7 | 1.1 |
| =80 |  BulgariaBGREastern Europe | 12.5 | 10.0 | 15.0 | 14.3 | 10.7 | 0.9 |
| =80 |  SerbiaSRBSouthern Europe | 12.5 | 10.0 | 14.9 | 13.6 | 11.4 | 1.1 |
| 82 |  KuwaitKWTWestern Asia | 12.3 | 10.5 | 14.2 | 11.3 | 13.4 | 0.5 |
| =83 |  LithuaniaLTUNorthern Europe | 10.7 | 8.4 | 12.9 | 11.4 | 9.9 | 0.3 |
| =83 |  PortugalPRTSouthern Europe | 10.7 | 8.8 | 12.7 | 13.8 | 7.6 | 1.1 |
| 85 |  SloveniaSVNSouthern Europe | 10.2 | 8.5 | 12.0 | 12.2 | 8.3 | 0.2 |
| 86 |  CroatiaHRVSouthern Europe | 10.0 | 7.8 | 12.2 | 10.9 | 9.1 | 0.4 |
| 87 |  AzerbaijanAZEWestern Asia | 9.6 | 7.8 | 11.5 | 9.6 | 9.7 | 1.0 |
| 88 |  LatviaLVANorthern Europe | 9.5 | 7.8 | 11.1 | 9.6 | 9.4 | 0.2 |
| 89 |  Bosnia and HerzegovinaBIHSouthern Europe | 9.2 | 7.1 | 11.3 | 8.4 | 9.9 | 0.3 |
| 90 |  SpainESPSouthern Europe | 8.6 | 6.9 | 10.3 | 10.8 | 6.4 | 4.1 |
| 91 |  United StatesUSANorthern America | 8.4 | 8.1 | 8.7 | 9.1 | 7.7 | 28.2 |
| 92 |  FinlandFINNorthern Europe | 7.7 | 6.1 | 9.3 | 8.5 | 6.9 | 0.4 |
| 93 |  Sri LankaLKASouthern Asia | 7.6 | 7.3 | 8.0 | 6.8 | 8.4 | 1.7 |
| 94 |  EstoniaESTNorthern Europe | 7.4 | 6.0 | 8.8 | 7.3 | 7.5 | — |
| =95 |  IcelandISLNorthern Europe | 7.2 | 5.2 | 9.2 | 8.7 | 5.7 | — |
| =95 |  IrelandIRLNorthern Europe | 7.2 | 5.9 | 8.5 | 5.9 | 8.5 | 0.4 |
| 97 |  RussiaRUSEastern Europe | 7.1 | 6.0 | 8.1 | 6.9 | 7.2 | 10.3 |
| 98 |  IndonesiaIDNSouth-eastern Asia | 7.0 | 6.8 | 7.2 | 6.5 | 7.4 | 18.8 |
| 99 |  HungaryHUNEastern Europe | 6.9 | 5.2 | 8.6 | 8.1 | 5.7 | 0.7 |
| =100 |  KyrgyzstanKGZCentral Asia | 6.3 | 6.2 | 6.3 | 6.3 | 6.2 | 0.4 |
| =100 |  VietnamVNMSouth-eastern Asia | 6.3 | 5.4 | 7.1 | 7.3 | 5.2 | 6.0 |
| 102 |  FranceFRAWestern Europe | 6.0 | 4.9 | 7.1 | 5.6 | 6.4 | 3.9 |
| 103 |  SwedenSWENorthern Europe | 5.7 | 4.2 | 7.2 | 5.8 | 5.6 | 0.6 |
| =104 |  DenmarkDNKNorthern Europe | 5.2 | 3.9 | 6.5 | 6.0 | 4.4 | 0.3 |
| =104 |  South KoreaKOREastern Asia | 5.2 | 4.0 | 6.3 | 3.7 | 6.7 | 2.7 |
| =106 |  CanadaCANNorthern America | 5.1 | 4.8 | 5.4 | 5.2 | 4.9 | 1.9 |
| =106 |  NetherlandsNLDWestern Europe | 5.1 | 3.8 | 6.4 | 6.2 | 3.9 | 0.9 |
| 108 |  SlovakiaSVKEastern Europe | 5.0 | 3.5 | 6.5 | 5.2 | 4.8 | 0.3 |
| 109 |  United KingdomGBRNorthern Europe | 4.9 | 3.9 | 5.9 | 4.0 | 5.8 | 3.3 |
| 110 |  NorwayNORNorthern Europe | 4.8 | 3.5 | 6.2 | 5.5 | 4.1 | 0.3 |
| =111 |  SingaporeSGPSouth-eastern Asia | 4.7 | 3.6 | 5.8 | 5.0 | 4.4 | 0.3 |
| =111 |  ThailandTHASouth-eastern Asia | 4.7 | 4.3 | 5.1 | 5.2 | 4.3 | 3.4 |
| =113 |  MaltaMLTSouthern Europe | 4.3 | 3.3 | 5.4 | 5.9 | 2.8 | — |
| =113 |  PolandPOLEastern Europe | 4.3 | 3.1 | 5.4 | 5.2 | 3.3 | 1.6 |
| 115 |  CzechiaCZEEastern Europe | 3.8 | 2.6 | 5.0 | 5.1 | 2.5 | 0.4 |
| 116 |  AustriaAUTWestern Europe | 3.6 | 2.5 | 4.6 | 4.1 | 3.0 | 0.3 |
| 117 |  GermanyDEUWestern Europe | 3.5 | 2.7 | 4.4 | 3.0 | 4.1 | 2.9 |
| 118 |  LuxembourgLUXWestern Europe | 3.3 | 2.3 | 4.3 | 3.2 | 3.4 | — |
| 119 |  JapanJPNEastern Asia | 3.2 | 2.2 | 4.1 | 2.1 | 4.3 | 4.0 |
| 120 |  SwitzerlandCHEWestern Europe | 2.6 | 1.8 | 3.4 | 2.3 | 3.0 | 0.2 |
| 121 | KazakhstanKAZCentral Asia | 2.4 | 0.7 | 4.2 | 2.5 | 2.4 | 0.5 |
02In 2018
At either end
The 5 countries at each end of the headline, then the highest and lowest on each other measure.
Highest
- 1South Sudan84.9
- 2Sierra Leone83.0
- 3Malawi78.8
- 4Chad76.3
- 5Uganda75.0
Lowest
- 121Kazakhstan2.4
- 120Switzerland2.6
- 119Japan3.2
- 118Luxembourg3.3
- 117Germany3.5
A higher value is the worse result. The middle country reads 20.7. “Shared” marks a value another country also holds.
Each measure’s ends
90% confidence interval, lower bound (%)
Highest
South Sudan83.7Lowest
Kazakhstan0.7Middle country: 16.3
90% confidence interval, upper bound (%)
Highest
South Sudan86.1Lowest
Switzerland3.4Middle country: 23.1
Women aged 15 and over (%)
Highest
South Sudan84.9Lowest
Japan2.1Middle country: 21.5
Men aged 15 and over (%)
Highest
South Sudan84.9Lowest
Kazakhstan2.4Middle country: 18.0
People in moderate or severe food insecurity (millions)
Highest
Nigeria96.5Lowest4 share it
Middle country: 2.9
032017 → 2018
Since 2017
What changed between 2017 and this one: who joined or left, and how far the headline moved.
- +10 / −3countries joined / left
- 96values changed, of 111 in both
- 47 · 49rose · fell
- 15unchanged
Rose most
- Paraguay15.6 → 21.3+5.7
- Nigeria42.8 → 47.1+4.3
- Mauritania32.3 → 35.9+3.6
- Kenya60.9 → 64.4+3.5
- Argentina32.3 → 35.8+3.5
+ Kiribati+ Saint Kitts and Nevis+ Lebanon+ Lesotho+ Madagascar+ Philippines+ Thailand+ Uruguay+ Vanuatu+ South Africa
− Liberia
− Saint Lucia
− SeychellesBoth 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.
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 2018.
107 distinct values among 121
Values are stored exactly as published, to 1 decimal. 3 countries share 13.3. 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.
13 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.
- .csv
For a spreadsheet or code
121 rows · 6.2 KB · UTF-8, opens in Excel
Opens with 11 lines of source notes; the table starts on row 13.
Download food-insecurity-2018-nations-inquiry.csv - ↗
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) (2018). Prevalence of Moderate or Severe Food Insecurity, 2018 [data set], describing 2018. As held by Nations Inquiry, https://nationsinquiry.com/datasets/food-insecurity/2018
0610 held
Other years
‹ The year before
Prevalence of Moderate or Severe Food Insecurity, 2017114 countries
The year after ›
Prevalence of Moderate or Severe Food Insecurity, 2019135 countries
All of them
Prevalence of Moderate or Severe Food Insecurity: every year10 held, with the data dictionary, coverage and licence.
How it has moved, charted by country
07Questions
Prevalence of Moderate or Severe Food Insecurity, 2018: questions and answers
Which country has the highest food insecurity in Prevalence of Moderate or Severe Food Insecurity, 2018?
South Sudan, at 84.9, of the 121 countries in the file.
What year does Prevalence of Moderate or Severe Food Insecurity, 2018 describe?
2018.
How many countries does Prevalence of Moderate or Severe Food Insecurity, 2018 cover?
121.
Where can I download Prevalence of Moderate or Severe Food Insecurity, 2018?
On this page, as a CSV file holding every value exactly as published, or from the publisher’s own site, linked below.
Is Prevalence of Moderate or Severe Food Insecurity, 2018 the newest?
No. The newest held here is Prevalence of Moderate or Severe Food Insecurity, 2024.