Data for 2023

Prevalence of Moderate or Severe Food Insecurity, 2023

2023, as FAO’s 2026 release gives it · stored as published, never rewritten

Prevalence of Moderate or Severe Food Insecurity, 2023 covers 135 countries on 6 measures. Sierra Leone is highest, at 89.8; Belarus is lowest, at 1.1. The middle country reads 20.6. Against 2022, 122 values changed (56 up, 66 down), 2 countries joined, 14 left.

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Prevalence of Moderate or Severe Food Insecurity · Data for 2023

HighestSierra Leone

89.8

LowestBelarus

1.1

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

135countries
6measures per country
2023the year it describes
116distinct 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, 2023, 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 135 countries · select a heading to sort

Prevalence of Moderate or Severe Food Insecurity, 2023: every country, as published by Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).
derived
1	Sierra LeoneSLEWestern Africa	89.8	86.8	92.8	90.0	89.7	7.6
2	South SudanSSDEastern Africa	88.1	86.6	89.5	88.1	88.1	10.1
3	HaitiHTICaribbean	83.4	80.2	86.7	85.8	81.0	9.7
4	MalawiMWIEastern Africa	81.7	80.4	83.0	82.4	80.9	17.2
5	DR CongoCODMiddle Africa	81.5	79.7	83.3	81.8	81.1	86.2
=6	AfghanistanAFGSouthern Asia	80.8	74.6	86.9	84.5	77.0	33.6
=6	LiberiaLBRWestern Africa	80.8	78.6	83.0	82.9	78.7	4.4
8	ComorosCOMEastern Africa	79.7	74.7	84.7	79.6	79.9	0.7
9	AngolaAGOMiddle Africa	76.6	76.0	77.2	79.4	73.7	28.1
10	NigeriaNGAWestern Africa	74.8	72.7	76.8	75.2	74.4	170.4
11	KenyaKENEastern Africa	73.9	72.3	75.5	75.9	71.9	40.9
12	YemenYEMWestern Asia	73.0	71.1	74.9	75.3	70.6	28.8
13	BurundiBDIEastern Africa	70.8	68.9	72.7	71.8	69.7	9.7
14	ZimbabweZWEEastern Africa	68.8	64.6	73.0	70.4	67.2	11.2
=15	ChadTCDMiddle Africa	66.3	63.9	68.7	66.1	66.4	12.8
=15	MauritaniaMRTWestern Africa	66.3	64.4	68.2	67.7	64.8	3.3
17	BeninBENWestern Africa	65.6	63.5	67.7	65.9	65.3	9.3
18	EthiopiaETHEastern Africa	61.4	56.8	66.1	61.5	61.4	79.1
19	CameroonCMRMiddle Africa	61.2	57.5	64.8	61.4	60.9	17.4
20	MadagascarMDGEastern Africa	60.1	58.5	61.8	60.4	59.9	18.8
21	LesothoLSOSouthern Africa	59.9	58.0	61.9	61.0	58.9	1.4
22	EswatiniSWZSouthern Africa	59.0	54.6	63.5	61.4	56.7	0.7
23	TogoTGOWestern Africa	58.5	55.9	61.1	58.1	58.9	4.8
24	TanzaniaTZAEastern Africa	58.0	55.8	60.2	58.0	58.0	38.7
25	JamaicaJAMCaribbean	56.4	51.4	61.4	49.9	62.8	1.6
26	NamibiaNAMSouthern Africa	55.9	53.5	58.2	57.4	54.4	1.7
27	GambiaGMBWestern Africa	54.8	51.4	58.3	53.1	56.5	1.5
28	UgandaUGAEastern Africa	54.6	53.1	56.1	54.8	54.4	26.6
29	BotswanaBWASouthern Africa	52.8	49.6	56.1	54.8	50.9	1.3
30	NigerNERWestern Africa	50.9	49.1	52.7	50.9	51.0	13.3
31	GuatemalaGTMCentral America	48.8	44.9	52.7	52.3	45.2	8.8
32	El SalvadorSLVCentral America	45.5	41.8	49.2	52.4	38.6	2.9
33	ZambiaZMBEastern Africa	45.3	43.4	47.2	46.2	44.4	9.4
34	GhanaGHAWestern Africa	44.5	43.3	45.8	44.9	44.1	15.0
35	Dominican RepublicDOMCaribbean	43.8	39.9	47.7	48.4	39.2	5.0
36	KiribatiKIRMicronesia	42.9	39.2	46.7	42.9	42.9	—
37	LebanonLBNWestern Asia	42.4	39.3	45.4	42.8	41.9	2.4
38	Burkina FasoBFAWestern Africa	41.4	38.9	44.0	40.9	42.0	9.5
39	HondurasHNDCentral America	41.3	40.7	41.9	44.8	37.8	4.4
40	CambodiaKHMSouth-eastern Asia	40.0	36.6	43.5	42.9	37.2	7.0
41	IranIRNSouthern Asia	38.8	35.5	42.1	38.5	39.2	35.2
42	Côte d’IvoireCIVWestern Africa	38.4	36.6	40.1	38.5	38.2	12.0
43	NepalNPLSouthern Asia	36.6	33.7	39.5	36.5	36.7	10.9
44	PeruPERSouth America	35.9	35.1	36.6	42.5	29.2	12.1
45	LaosLAOSouth-eastern Asia	35.6	32.8	38.4	35.6	35.7	2.7
46	LibyaLBYNorthern Africa	35.1	31.8	38.4	32.6	37.6	2.6
47	ArgentinaARGSouth America	33.8	30.6	37.0	37.5	30.1	15.4
48	EcuadorECUSouth America	33.3	30.0	36.7	37.1	29.6	6.0
49	AlbaniaALBSouthern Europe	33.0	29.8	36.2	36.9	29.1	0.9
50	PhilippinesPHLSouth-eastern Asia	32.9	31.5	34.2	33.3	32.5	37.7
51	MyanmarMMRSouth-eastern Asia	32.7	28.1	37.3	33.5	32.0	17.7
52	UkraineUKREastern Europe	32.5	29.5	35.5	37.4	27.5	12.6
53	Cabo VerdeCPVWestern Africa	32.1	29.4	34.9	32.1	32.1	0.2
54	MauritiusMUSEastern Africa	31.1	28.0	34.2	32.2	30.0	0.4
55	EgyptEGYNorthern Africa	30.8	28.0	33.6	32.8	28.8	35.3
56	SenegalSENWestern Africa	29.1	26.8	31.3	29.7	28.4	5.3
57	ColombiaCOLSouth America	28.9	28.0	29.8	32.8	25.0	15.1
58	PalauPLWMicronesia	28.1	21.2	35.0	28.1	28.1	—
59	Trinidad and TobagoTTOCaribbean	27.6	26.7	28.5	28.6	26.7	0.4
60	GeorgiaGEOWestern Asia	26.6	23.8	29.4	27.9	25.3	1.0
61	BangladeshBGDSouthern Asia	26.0	24.5	27.4	26.3	25.6	44.5
62	BoliviaBOLSouth America	25.7	24.5	26.9	28.7	22.7	3.1
63	GuyanaGUYSouth America	25.5	24.3	26.7	25.5	25.5	0.2
64	TunisiaTUNNorthern Africa	25.4	22.3	28.6	25.6	25.2	3.1
=65	MoldovaMDAEastern Europe	25.1	21.7	28.4	29.4	20.7	0.8
=65	TajikistanTJKCentral Asia	25.1	21.1	29.1	26.4	23.7	2.6
67	PakistanPAKSouthern Asia	22.6	22.1	23.1	27.6	17.6	55.9
68	MaliMLIWestern Africa	20.6	18.7	22.4	20.3	20.9	4.9
69	South AfricaZAFSouthern Africa	20.3	19.1	21.4	20.5	20.0	12.8
=70	RomaniaROUEastern Europe	18.6	15.9	21.2	20.5	16.6	3.5
=70	SamoaWSMPolynesia	18.6	16.7	20.4	18.6	18.6	—
72	ChileCHLSouth America	18.1	17.7	18.4	19.1	17.0	3.6
73	MexicoMEXCentral America	17.9	17.3	18.5	20.7	15.2	23.3
74	AlgeriaDZANorthern Africa	17.6	14.0	21.2	15.5	19.7	8.1
=75	GrenadaGRDCaribbean	17.3	13.6	21.1	17.3	17.3	—
=75	New ZealandNZLAustralia and New Zealand	17.3	16.0	18.6	16.4	18.1	0.9
77	MalaysiaMYSSouth-eastern Asia	16.7	14.2	19.1	14.9	18.4	5.9
78	BelizeBLZCentral America	16.5	14.1	19.0	16.5	16.5	—
79	UruguayURYSouth America	16.2	14.8	17.6	18.5	13.9	0.5
80	HungaryHUNEastern Europe	15.6	12.0	19.1	17.6	13.6	1.5
81	Costa RicaCRICentral America	15.4	14.7	16.2	17.8	13.1	0.8
82	North MacedoniaMKDSouthern Europe	15.2	12.9	17.6	16.6	13.8	0.3
83	AzerbaijanAZEWestern Asia	14.0	12.0	16.0	14.9	13.2	1.4
84	AustraliaAUSAustralia and New Zealand	13.8	11.9	15.8	14.8	12.9	3.7
85	Antigua and BarbudaATGCaribbean	13.5	12.6	14.4	15.1	11.9	—
86	FinlandFINNorthern Europe	13.4	6.5	20.2	14.4	12.4	0.7
87	BrazilBRASouth America	13.3	13.0	13.6	15.5	11.1	28.1
88	PortugalPRTSouthern Europe	11.9	9.1	14.8	14.4	9.4	1.2
89	BulgariaBGREastern Europe	11.6	9.0	14.2	13.0	10.3	0.8
=90	LatviaLVANorthern Europe	11.2	8.7	13.7	12.3	10.2	0.2
=90	Sri LankaLKASouthern Asia	11.2	10.8	11.5	11.3	11.0	2.6
92	EstoniaESTNorthern Europe	10.8	8.0	13.5	11.3	10.2	0.1
93	VietnamVNMSouth-eastern Asia	10.7	8.9	12.4	12.0	9.3	10.7
=94	MontenegroMNESouthern Europe	10.4	7.8	13.0	11.7	9.2	—
=94	United StatesUSANorthern America	10.4	10.1	10.7	12.4	8.4	35.7
96	CanadaCANNorthern America	10.2	10.0	10.4	11.4	9.0	4.0
97	CzechiaCZEEastern Europe	10.0	8.5	11.6	11.3	8.8	1.1
98	Bosnia and HerzegovinaBIHSouthern Europe	9.9	8.1	11.6	11.7	8.1	0.3
=99	SerbiaSRBSouthern Europe	9.5	7.5	11.5	9.7	9.2	0.8
=99	SingaporeSGPSouth-eastern Asia	9.5	8.1	10.9	8.9	10.0	0.5
=101	IsraelISRWestern Asia	9.2	7.6	10.9	9.8	8.7	0.9
=101	MaltaMLTSouthern Europe	9.2	7.7	10.8	10.4	8.1	—
=103	FranceFRAWestern Europe	8.4	7.3	9.5	8.4	8.5	5.6
=103	KuwaitKWTWestern Asia	8.4	6.8	10.0	7.4	9.4	0.4
105	SloveniaSVNSouthern Europe	8.2	6.3	10.1	10.0	6.4	0.2
106	BelgiumBELWestern Europe	8.1	5.8	10.4	9.5	6.7	0.9
=107	ArmeniaARMWestern Asia	7.8	6.5	9.1	8.7	6.9	0.2
=107	IcelandISLNorthern Europe	7.8	4.7	10.9	9.6	5.9	—
=107	NorwayNORNorthern Europe	7.8	5.7	9.8	8.2	7.3	0.4
=110	NetherlandsNLDWestern Europe	7.5	5.7	9.2	8.6	6.3	1.4
=110	SlovakiaSVKEastern Europe	7.5	5.7	9.3	8.5	6.5	0.4
=112	DenmarkDNKNorthern Europe	6.9	5.4	8.5	6.7	7.2	0.4
=112	SwedenSWENorthern Europe	6.9	5.5	8.4	6.4	7.5	0.7
=112	United KingdomGBRNorthern Europe	6.9	5.6	8.2	6.6	7.1	4.7
115	GreeceGRCSouthern Europe	6.7	5.7	7.7	7.2	6.2	0.7
=116	LithuaniaLTUNorthern Europe	6.5	4.9	8.2	7.8	5.2	0.2
=116	SpainESPSouthern Europe	6.5	5.1	8.0	7.8	5.3	3.1
118	CroatiaHRVSouthern Europe	6.0	3.9	8.1	6.8	5.3	0.2
119	JapanJPNEastern Asia	5.8	4.7	7.0	4.3	7.4	7.3
=120	South KoreaKOREastern Asia	5.4	4.1	6.6	4.5	6.3	2.8
=120	ThailandTHASouth-eastern Asia	5.4	4.7	6.1	5.6	5.2	3.9
122	IrelandIRLNorthern Europe	4.8	3.6	6.1	4.3	5.4	0.3
=123	AustriaAUTWestern Europe	4.7	3.4	6.0	4.4	5.0	0.4
=123	MongoliaMNGEastern Asia	4.7	4.0	5.4	4.9	4.5	0.2
125	IndonesiaIDNSouth-eastern Asia	4.5	4.3	4.6	4.5	4.4	12.5
126	GermanyDEUWestern Europe	4.1	2.5	5.7	3.5	4.6	3.4
127	United Arab EmiratesAREWestern Asia	3.6	2.2	5.0	2.8	4.4	0.4
128	PolandPOLEastern Europe	3.4	2.3	4.6	4.2	2.7	1.3
129	RussiaRUSEastern Europe	3.0	2.2	3.8	3.1	2.9	4.4
130	LuxembourgLUXWestern Europe	2.6	1.7	3.5	2.6	2.6	—
131	SwitzerlandCHEWestern Europe	2.0	1.4	2.7	1.8	2.3	0.2
=132	ItalyITASouthern Europe	1.7	1.5	1.8	1.7	1.7	1.0
=132	KazakhstanKAZCentral Asia	1.7	1.1	2.2	1.6	1.7	0.3
134	CyprusCYPWestern Asia	1.4	1.3	1.5	1.6	1.2	—
135	BelarusBLREastern Europe	1.1	—	2.3	1.2	0.9	—

02In 2023

At either end

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

Highest

1Sierra Leone89.8
2South Sudan88.1
3Haiti83.4
4Malawi81.7
5DR Congo81.5

Lowest

135Belarus1.1
134Cyprus1.4
132Kazakhstanshared1.7
132Italyshared1.7
131Switzerland2.0

A higher value is the worse result. The middle country reads 20.6. “Shared” marks a value another country also holds.

Each measure’s ends

90% confidence interval, lower bound (%)
HighestSierra Leone86.8
LowestKazakhstan1.1
Middle country: 20.1
90% confidence interval, upper bound (%)
HighestSierra Leone92.8
LowestCyprus1.5
Middle country: 22.4
Women aged 15 and over (%)
HighestSierra Leone90.0
LowestBelarus1.2
Middle country: 20.7
Men aged 15 and over (%)
HighestSierra Leone89.7
LowestBelarus0.9
Middle country: 20.0
People in moderate or severe food insecurity (millions)
HighestNigeria170.4
LowestEstonia0.1
Middle country: 3.4

032022 → 2023

Since 2022

What changed between 2022 and this one: who joined or left, and how far the headline moved.

+2 / −14countries joined / left
122values changed, of 133 in both
56 · 66rose · fell
11unchanged

Rose most

Mauritania61.2 → 66.3+5.1
Lesotho57.4 → 59.9+2.5
Ethiopia59.0 → 61.4+2.4
Bolivia23.4 → 25.7+2.3
Benin63.3 → 65.6+2.3

Fell most

Belize23.3 → 16.5−6.8
Georgia32.3 → 26.6−5.7
Brazil18.4 → 13.3−5.1
North Macedonia20.2 → 15.2−5.0
Uganda59.5 → 54.6−4.9

+ United Arab Emirates

+ Cyprus

− Bahamas

− Barbados

− Central African Republic

− Djibouti

− Dominica

− Fiji

− Guinea-Bissau

− Kyrgyzstan

− Maldives

− Nauru

− Paraguay

− São Tomé and Príncipe

− Suriname

− Tonga

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 2023.
116 distinct values among 135
Values are stored exactly as published, to 1 decimal. 3 countries share 7.8. 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.

Licence in full

.csv
For a spreadsheet or code
135 rows · 6.8 KB · UTF-8, opens in Excel
Opens with 11 lines of source notes; the table starts on row 13.
Download food-insecurity-2023-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) (2023). Prevalence of Moderate or Severe Food Insecurity, 2023 [data set], describing 2023. As held by Nations Inquiry, https://nationsinquiry.com/datasets/food-insecurity/2023

0610 held

Other years

‹ The year before
Prevalence of Moderate or Severe Food Insecurity, 2022
147 countries
The year after ›
Prevalence of Moderate or Severe Food Insecurity, 2024
135 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