Data for 2021

Prevalence of Moderate or Severe Food Insecurity, 2021

2021, as FAO’s 2026 release gives it · stored as published, never rewritten

Prevalence of Moderate or Severe Food Insecurity, 2021 covers 145 countries on 6 measures. Sierra Leone is highest, at 89.2; Belarus is lowest, at 1.3. The middle country reads 25.5. Against 2020, 127 values changed (84 up, 43 down), 4 countries joined, 2 left.

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Prevalence of Moderate or Severe Food Insecurity · Data for 2021

HighestSierra Leone

89.2

LowestBelarus

1.3

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

145countries
6measures per country
2021the year it describes
132distinct 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, 2021, 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 145 countries · select a heading to sort

Prevalence of Moderate or Severe Food Insecurity, 2021: every country, as published by Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).
derived
1	Sierra LeoneSLEWestern Africa	89.2	86.2	92.2	89.0	89.5	7.2
2	Central African RepublicCAFMiddle Africa	88.1	86.6	89.7	88.1	88.1	4.5
3	South SudanSSDEastern Africa	87.3	86.0	88.6	87.3	87.3	9.5
4	HaitiHTICaribbean	82.6	77.9	87.4	83.1	82.2	9.4
5	MalawiMWIEastern Africa	82.4	81.0	83.8	83.0	81.7	16.5
6	LiberiaLBRWestern Africa	81.2	78.2	84.3	84.0	78.5	4.3
7	ComorosCOMEastern Africa	79.7	74.7	84.7	80.0	79.5	0.7
8	AfghanistanAFGSouthern Asia	79.1	75.6	82.6	85.5	72.8	31.6
9	AngolaAGOMiddle Africa	79.0	78.3	79.6	81.9	76.0	27.3
10	DR CongoCODMiddle Africa	75.9	73.9	78.0	75.4	76.4	75.3
11	ZimbabweZWEEastern Africa	73.6	69.4	77.8	75.0	72.2	11.6
12	KenyaKENEastern Africa	72.3	70.7	73.8	76.1	68.4	38.5
13	NigeriaNGAWestern Africa	69.7	67.3	72.0	70.7	68.7	152.3
14	ChadTCDMiddle Africa	69.4	66.7	72.1	69.9	68.9	12.4
15	YemenYEMWestern Asia	67.2	63.2	71.2	71.7	62.7	25.0
16	UgandaUGAEastern Africa	65.9	63.8	68.0	64.6	67.2	30.2
17	BeninBENWestern Africa	62.7	60.7	64.7	63.2	62.2	8.4
18	Guinea-BissauGNBWestern Africa	62.4	60.1	64.8	62.4	62.4	1.3
19	MadagascarMDGEastern Africa	61.0	58.8	63.2	63.8	58.2	18.1
20	GambiaGMBWestern Africa	60.7	57.9	63.6	60.5	61.0	1.6
21	CameroonCMRMiddle Africa	59.2	55.6	62.8	59.0	59.4	15.9
22	TanzaniaTZAEastern Africa	58.7	56.6	60.9	58.6	58.9	36.9
23	EthiopiaETHEastern Africa	58.1	53.8	62.4	57.2	59.0	71.0
=24	EswatiniSWZSouthern Africa	57.7	53.7	61.7	58.4	56.9	0.7
=24	NamibiaNAMSouthern Africa	57.7	55.3	60.1	59.5	55.9	1.6
26	BotswanaBWASouthern Africa	56.3	52.7	60.0	59.2	53.5	1.4
27	TogoTGOWestern Africa	56.0	53.4	58.5	54.3	57.6	4.4
28	GuatemalaGTMCentral America	55.0	52.0	58.1	61.8	48.2	9.7
29	LesothoLSOSouthern Africa	54.8	52.8	56.8	54.1	55.6	1.2
30	São Tomé and PríncipeSTPMiddle Africa	54.6	50.5	58.8	56.2	53.0	0.1
31	JamaicaJAMCaribbean	54.4	49.6	59.1	56.3	52.5	1.5
=32	MauritaniaMRTWestern Africa	53.7	51.8	55.6	52.9	54.5	2.5
=32	Timor-LesteTLSSouth-eastern Asia	53.7	51.7	55.7	53.7	53.7	0.7
34	Dominican RepublicDOMCaribbean	52.1	48.5	55.7	55.4	48.8	5.8
35	NigerNERWestern Africa	50.2	48.2	52.3	51.0	49.5	12.3
36	HondurasHNDCentral America	49.3	49.1	49.5	52.5	46.1	5.1
37	DjiboutiDJIEastern Africa	49.2	43.2	55.3	49.2	49.3	0.6
38	El SalvadorSLVCentral America	48.4	44.8	52.0	55.0	41.8	3.0
39	ZambiaZMBEastern Africa	47.9	45.8	49.9	47.7	48.1	9.4
40	CambodiaKHMSouth-eastern Asia	43.4	39.9	46.8	46.3	40.4	7.4
=41	Côte d’IvoireCIVWestern Africa	41.0	39.2	42.7	40.9	41.0	12.1
=41	KiribatiKIRMicronesia	41.0	36.8	45.2	41.0	41.0	—
43	IranIRNSouthern Asia	40.8	37.4	44.2	40.2	41.3	36.1
44	Burkina FasoBFAWestern Africa	40.5	37.9	43.2	38.9	42.2	8.9
45	LibyaLBYNorthern Africa	39.8	36.6	43.1	44.8	34.8	2.8
46	GhanaGHAWestern Africa	38.8	37.1	40.5	40.4	37.3	12.6
=47	NepalNPLSouthern Asia	37.4	34.3	40.5	36.8	38.0	11.0
=47	PhilippinesPHLSouth-eastern Asia	37.4	36.0	38.7	37.4	37.3	42.2
49	EcuadorECUSouth America	37.3	34.0	40.6	41.1	33.5	6.6
50	ArgentinaARGSouth America	36.9	33.2	40.5	42.7	31.1	16.7
=51	GeorgiaGEOWestern Asia	36.5	33.6	39.5	38.6	34.4	1.4
=51	LebanonLBNWestern Asia	36.5	34.1	39.0	37.3	35.7	2.1
53	PeruPERSouth America	36.3	35.6	37.1	42.1	30.6	12.0
54	SurinameSURSouth America	35.9	30.6	41.1	40.4	31.3	0.2
55	Cabo VerdeCPVWestern Africa	34.8	31.3	38.4	34.8	34.8	0.2
56	DominicaDMACaribbean	34.4	30.6	38.3	34.4	34.4	—
57	LaosLAOSouth-eastern Asia	34.1	31.0	37.1	34.7	33.4	2.5
58	MauritiusMUSEastern Africa	32.0	28.8	35.1	32.6	31.3	0.4
59	ColombiaCOLSouth America	31.6	30.8	32.3	35.3	27.8	16.2
60	BarbadosBRBCaribbean	31.1	26.6	35.6	33.3	28.8	—
61	TajikistanTJKCentral Asia	31.0	27.2	34.9	31.9	30.2	3.1
62	SenegalSENWestern Africa	30.3	28.0	32.6	28.2	32.4	5.2
63	AlbaniaALBSouthern Europe	30.2	27.2	33.1	34.0	26.3	0.9
64	NauruNRUMicronesia	29.9	26.0	33.8	29.9	29.9	—
65	BangladeshBGDSouthern Asia	29.7	27.7	31.8	30.8	28.7	49.9
66	MyanmarMMRSouth-eastern Asia	29.3	25.8	32.8	30.3	28.4	15.6
=67	EgyptEGYNorthern Africa	28.5	25.9	31.1	29.9	27.0	31.6
=67	TunisiaTUNNorthern Africa	28.5	25.3	31.6	28.1	28.8	3.4
69	UkraineUKREastern Europe	28.2	25.3	31.1	31.4	25.0	12.2
70	BelizeBLZCentral America	28.0	25.5	30.5	27.9	27.9	0.1
71	PakistanPAKSouthern Asia	27.6	27.3	27.9	31.2	23.9	66.0
72	ParaguayPRYSouth America	25.9	22.7	29.1	26.2	25.6	1.7
73	GuyanaGUYSouth America	25.5	24.3	26.7	25.5	25.5	0.2
74	FijiFJIMelanesia	24.2	19.5	28.9	24.2	24.2	0.2
75	North MacedoniaMKDSouthern Europe	24.0	21.9	26.2	24.8	23.2	0.4
=76	MexicoMEXCentral America	23.5	22.7	24.3	28.3	18.6	30.0
=76	MoldovaMDAEastern Europe	23.5	21.2	25.9	26.6	20.5	0.7
78	BoliviaBOLSouth America	22.9	21.8	24.0	24.2	21.5	2.7
79	BrazilBRASouth America	22.1	21.5	22.6	26.0	18.1	46.2
80	GrenadaGRDCaribbean	20.7	15.0	26.4	20.7	20.7	—
81	MaliMLIWestern Africa	20.6	17.9	23.4	20.3	20.9	4.6
82	SamoaWSMPolynesia	20.4	17.9	22.9	20.4	20.4	—
83	AlgeriaDZANorthern Africa	19.4	16.1	22.6	17.0	21.7	8.7
84	South AfricaZAFSouthern Africa	19.2	18.1	20.3	20.2	18.1	11.8
85	ChileCHLSouth America	18.2	17.1	19.4	20.2	16.3	3.5
86	TongaTONPolynesia	17.6	14.3	20.9	17.6	17.6	—
87	BahamasBHSCaribbean	17.2	13.4	21.1	16.9	17.6	—
=88	Costa RicaCRICentral America	16.2	15.5	16.9	18.4	14.0	0.8
=88	RomaniaROUEastern Europe	16.2	13.9	18.5	19.0	13.4	3.1
90	MalaysiaMYSSouth-eastern Asia	16.0	13.6	18.3	13.6	18.3	5.5
91	BulgariaBGREastern Europe	15.8	12.5	19.0	17.7	13.8	1.1
92	UruguayURYSouth America	15.2	14.1	16.3	18.2	12.3	0.5
93	New ZealandNZLAustralia and New Zealand	15.1	13.1	17.1	14.7	15.6	0.8
94	SerbiaSRBSouthern Europe	14.8	12.1	17.5	15.1	14.6	1.3
95	Antigua and BarbudaATGCaribbean	13.5	12.6	14.4	15.1	11.9	—
=96	Bosnia and HerzegovinaBIHSouthern Europe	13.4	11.1	15.7	15.5	11.3	0.4
=96	MaldivesMDVSouthern Asia	13.4	10.8	15.9	13.2	13.5	—
98	MontenegroMNESouthern Europe	12.9	10.3	15.4	12.5	13.2	—
99	HungaryHUNEastern Europe	12.6	9.9	15.3	14.1	11.1	1.2
100	PortugalPRTSouthern Europe	12.4	9.9	15.0	13.2	11.6	1.3
101	AustraliaAUSAustralia and New Zealand	11.4	9.6	13.2	11.3	11.6	3.0
102	Sri LankaLKASouthern Asia	10.9	10.5	11.2	10.3	11.5	2.5
103	KuwaitKWTWestern Asia	10.8	8.9	12.7	9.4	12.2	0.5
104	FinlandFINNorthern Europe	10.5	6.5	14.5	12.8	8.2	0.6
105	AzerbaijanAZEWestern Asia	10.1	8.1	12.0	10.5	9.7	1.0
106	CroatiaHRVSouthern Europe	9.7	7.9	11.5	11.8	7.6	0.4
107	LatviaLVANorthern Europe	9.3	7.1	11.6	10.5	8.2	0.2
108	VietnamVNMSouth-eastern Asia	9.0	7.9	10.0	10.2	7.7	8.9
109	United StatesUSANorthern America	8.6	8.3	8.9	10.0	7.2	29.3
=110	CzechiaCZEEastern Europe	8.5	7.0	10.0	8.6	8.5	0.9
=110	EstoniaESTNorthern Europe	8.5	5.3	11.7	9.3	7.8	0.1
112	LithuaniaLTUNorthern Europe	8.4	6.6	10.2	9.3	7.6	0.2
113	SlovakiaSVKEastern Europe	8.3	6.9	9.6	9.8	6.8	0.5
=114	ArmeniaARMWestern Asia	8.0	6.8	9.2	8.8	7.3	0.2
=114	SpainESPSouthern Europe	8.0	6.3	9.6	8.8	7.1	3.8
116	CanadaCANNorthern America	7.7	7.5	7.9	9.2	6.2	3.0
117	PolandPOLEastern Europe	7.6	6.0	9.1	9.2	6.0	2.9
118	IsraelISRWestern Asia	7.4	5.7	9.1	7.0	7.8	0.7
119	MaltaMLTSouthern Europe	7.2	5.8	8.6	8.5	5.9	—
120	ThailandTHASouth-eastern Asia	7.1	6.6	7.5	7.6	6.5	5.1
121	SloveniaSVNSouthern Europe	7.0	5.2	8.8	9.2	4.8	0.1
122	KyrgyzstanKGZCentral Asia	6.9	6.8	6.9	7.2	6.6	0.5
123	DenmarkDNKNorthern Europe	6.8	5.0	8.6	7.3	6.3	0.4
=124	FranceFRAWestern Europe	6.6	5.5	7.7	7.0	6.2	4.3
=124	SingaporeSGPSouth-eastern Asia	6.6	6.1	7.1	6.5	6.7	0.4
126	GreeceGRCSouthern Europe	6.3	4.8	7.7	6.8	5.8	0.7
127	IcelandISLNorthern Europe	6.1	4.1	8.2	6.5	5.8	—
128	BelgiumBELWestern Europe	5.8	4.2	7.5	5.7	5.9	0.7
129	South KoreaKOREastern Asia	5.6	4.2	6.9	4.6	6.6	2.9
130	MongoliaMNGEastern Asia	5.5	4.8	6.3	5.8	5.3	0.2
=131	IrelandIRLNorthern Europe	5.4	4.3	6.5	4.5	6.4	0.3
=131	SwedenSWENorthern Europe	5.4	3.9	6.9	5.5	5.3	0.6
133	NorwayNORNorthern Europe	5.2	3.6	6.8	5.0	5.4	0.3
134	IndonesiaIDNSouth-eastern Asia	4.9	4.1	5.7	4.9	4.9	13.6
135	RussiaRUSEastern Europe	4.8	4.0	5.6	4.9	4.7	7.0
136	NetherlandsNLDWestern Europe	4.5	3.0	6.0	4.9	4.1	0.8
137	JapanJPNEastern Asia	4.4	3.2	5.7	3.7	5.1	5.6
138	AustriaAUTWestern Europe	4.3	3.4	5.3	4.2	4.5	0.4
139	United KingdomGBRNorthern Europe	4.1	3.1	5.0	4.7	3.4	2.8
140	GermanyDEUWestern Europe	3.8	2.4	5.3	3.7	4.0	3.2
141	LuxembourgLUXWestern Europe	2.7	1.8	3.6	2.6	2.7	—
142	KazakhstanKAZCentral Asia	2.4	1.6	3.2	2.5	2.2	0.5
143	ItalyITASouthern Europe	2.2	2.1	2.4	1.9	2.5	1.3
144	SwitzerlandCHEWestern Europe	2.1	1.5	2.7	1.9	2.3	0.2
145	BelarusBLREastern Europe	1.3	0.5	2.2	1.5	1.1	0.1

02In 2021

At either end

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

Highest

Lowest

145Belarus1.3
144Switzerland2.1
143Italy2.2
142Kazakhstan2.4
141Luxembourg2.7

A higher value is the worse result. The middle country reads 25.5. “Shared” marks a value another country also holds.

Each measure’s ends

90% confidence interval, lower bound (%)
HighestCentral African Republic86.6
LowestBelarus0.5
Middle country: 22.7
90% confidence interval, upper bound (%)
HighestSierra Leone92.2
LowestBelarus2.2
Middle country: 27.9
Women aged 15 and over (%)
HighestSierra Leone89.0
LowestBelarus1.5
Middle country: 26.6
Men aged 15 and over (%)
HighestSierra Leone89.5
LowestBelarus1.1
Middle country: 24.2
People in moderate or severe food insecurity (millions)
HighestNigeria152.3
Lowest5 share it
Middle country: 2.9

032020 → 2021

Since 2020

What changed between 2020 and this one: who joined or left, and how far the headline moved.

+4 / −2countries joined / left
127values changed, of 141 in both
84 · 43rose · fell
14unchanged

Rose most

Afghanistan70.1 → 79.1+9.0
Yemen58.5 → 67.2+8.7
Mauritania45.3 → 53.7+8.4
Lebanon29.1 → 36.5+7.4
Nigeria62.9 → 69.7+6.8

Fell most

Zambia51.8 → 47.9−3.9
Uganda69.8 → 65.9−3.9
Belize31.6 → 28.0−3.6
Chad72.2 → 69.4−2.8
Tonga20.4 → 17.6−2.8

+ Antigua and Barbuda

+ Bolivia

+ Guyana

+ Italy

− Saint Kitts and Nevis

− Vanuatu

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 2021.
132 distinct values among 145
Values are stored exactly as published, to 1 decimal. 2 countries share 57.7. 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.
14 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
145 rows · 7.2 KB · UTF-8, opens in Excel
Opens with 11 lines of source notes; the table starts on row 13.
Download food-insecurity-2021-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) (2021). Prevalence of Moderate or Severe Food Insecurity, 2021 [data set], describing 2021. As held by Nations Inquiry, https://nationsinquiry.com/datasets/food-insecurity/2021

0610 held

Other years

‹ The year before
Prevalence of Moderate or Severe Food Insecurity, 2020
143 countries
The year after ›
Prevalence of Moderate or Severe Food Insecurity, 2022
147 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