Data for 2016

Prevalence of Severe Food Insecurity, 2016

Name: Prevalence of Severe Food Insecurity, 2016
Creator: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)
License: https://www.fao.org/contact-us/terms/db-terms-of-use/en/

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

Prevalence of Severe Food Insecurity, 2016 covers 94 countries on 6 measures. Malawi is highest, at 48.5; 4 countries share the lowest reading, 0.6. The middle country reads 3.4. Against 2015, 83 values changed (51 up, 32 down), 1 country joined, 1 left.

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Prevalence of Severe Food Insecurity · Data for 2016

HighestMalawi

48.5

Lowest4 countries share it

0.6

Shaded by value in five groups of equal size, darkest at the lowest end.

94countries
6measures per country
2016the year it describes
66distinct values1 decimal, as published
Oct 13, 2026read from the publisher
CC BY 4.0licence

01Position · derived

The table

Every country and every column of Prevalence of 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 94 countries · select a heading to sort

Prevalence of Severe Food Insecurity, 2016: every country, as published by Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).
derived
1	Malawi`MWI`Eastern Africa	48.5	47.0	50.1	50.8	46.3	8.5
2	Liberia`LBR`Western Africa	38.4	34.6	42.2	39.8	36.9	1.8
3	Zimbabwe`ZWE`Eastern Africa	36.7	33.8	39.6	37.6	35.9	5.4
4	Chad`TCD`Middle Africa	35.4	33.5	37.3	35.3	35.5	5.4
5	Sierra Leone`SLE`Western Africa	31.9	31.8	32.1	32.8	31.1	2.3
6	Namibia`NAM`Southern Africa	29.6	27.8	31.5	30.4	28.9	0.7
7	Cameroon`CMR`Middle Africa	26.6	21.8	31.4	25.5	27.7	6.2
=8	Jamaica`JAM`Caribbean	24.8	21.3	28.2	28.5	21.0	0.7
=8	Tanzania`TZA`Eastern Africa	24.8	23.1	26.6	26.2	23.5	13.4
10	Uganda`UGA`Eastern Africa	24.0	22.2	25.7	22.9	25.1	9.3
11	Zambia`ZMB`Eastern Africa	23.8	22.3	25.3	23.8	23.8	4.0
12	Dominican Republic`DOM`Caribbean	23.7	21.8	25.6	25.6	21.7	2.5
13	Gambia`GMB`Western Africa	23.6	21.0	26.1	23.3	23.8	0.5
14	Botswana`BWA`Southern Africa	21.5	18.1	24.9	24.1	19.0	0.5
15	Kenya`KEN`Eastern Africa	17.8	16.8	18.9	19.5	16.3	8.6
16	Guatemala`GTM`Central America	17.0	14.8	19.2	17.4	16.6	2.8
17	Togo`TGO`Western Africa	16.3	14.8	17.8	14.7	18.0	1.2
18	Afghanistan`AFG`Southern Asia	15.1	11.8	18.4	16.2	14.1	5.3
19	Ethiopia`ETH`Eastern Africa	15.0	12.7	17.3	15.8	14.3	16.0
20	Honduras`HND`Central America	14.1	13.8	14.4	15.3	12.9	1.3
21	El Salvador`SLV`Central America	13.7	12.0	15.3	15.1	12.2	0.8
22	Benin`BEN`Western Africa	13.1	11.8	14.3	13.4	12.8	1.5
23	Algeria`DZA`Northern Africa	12.7	9.9	15.4	13.9	11.5	5.2
24	Libya`LBY`Northern Africa	12.4	10.6	14.3	15.2	9.6	0.8
25	Nigeria`NGA`Western Africa	12.3	11.0	13.5	10.7	13.9	24.0
26	Albania`ALB`Southern Europe	10.5	8.9	12.1	11.7	9.3	0.3
27	Nepal`NPL`Southern Asia	9.6	7.9	11.4	10.1	9.1	2.7
=28	Iran`IRN`Southern Asia	9.3	7.9	10.7	9.0	9.6	7.8
=28	Tunisia`TUN`Northern Africa	9.3	6.7	11.9	9.5	9.2	1.1
30	Egypt`EGY`Northern Africa	8.7	7.2	10.2	9.7	7.7	8.8
31	Argentina`ARG`South America	8.6	7.0	10.2	9.5	7.8	3.8
32	Georgia`GEO`Western Asia	7.9	6.2	9.6	8.2	7.6	0.3
33	Côte d’Ivoire`CIV`Western Africa	7.5	6.5	8.4	7.5	7.4	1.9
34	Senegal`SEN`Western Africa	7.2	6.0	8.4	6.6	7.7	1.1
=35	Ecuador`ECU`South America	7.1	4.4	9.8	7.6	6.7	1.2
=35	Tajikistan`TJK`Central Asia	7.1	5.2	9.1	7.0	7.3	0.6
37	Malaysia`MYS`South-eastern Asia	6.7	5.4	8.0	6.2	7.3	2.1
38	Ghana`GHA`Western Africa	6.0	5.3	6.7	6.0	5.9	1.8
39	Mauritius`MUS`Eastern Africa	5.9	4.7	7.1	6.9	4.9	—
40	Mauritania`MRT`Western Africa	5.0	4.3	5.8	5.5	4.6	0.2
41	Kuwait`KWT`Western Asia	4.9	3.8	6.0	3.8	6.0	0.2
42	Romania`ROU`Eastern Europe	4.8	3.6	6.0	5.9	3.7	0.9
43	Colombia`COL`South America	4.7	4.4	5.0	4.8	4.6	2.2
44	Saint Lucia`LCA`Caribbean	4.5	3.0	6.0	4.5	4.5	—
45	Cambodia`KHM`South-eastern Asia	4.0	3.1	5.0	4.6	3.5	0.6
46	Portugal`PRT`Southern Europe	3.5	2.6	4.5	3.9	3.2	0.4
=47	Australia`AUS`Australia and New Zealand	3.4	2.4	4.4	3.4	3.4	0.8
=47	Peru`PER`South America	3.4	3.1	3.7	3.8	3.0	1.0
=49	Mexico`MEX`Central America	3.3	3.1	3.5	3.7	2.9	4.1
=49	New Zealand`NZL`Australia and New Zealand	3.3	2.2	4.3	3.6	2.9	0.2
=51	Greece`GRC`Southern Europe	3.2	2.3	4.2	3.3	3.1	0.3
=51	Seychelles`SYC`Eastern Africa	3.2	1.3	5.1	3.2	3.2	—
=53	Chile`CHL`South America	3.1	2.8	3.4	3.5	2.8	0.6
=53	North Macedonia`MKD`Southern Europe	3.1	2.0	4.2	3.4	2.8	—
55	Ireland`IRL`Northern Europe	2.8	2.0	3.5	2.2	3.4	0.1
56	Bulgaria`BGR`Eastern Europe	2.4	1.5	3.2	2.4	2.3	0.2
=57	Finland`FIN`Northern Europe	2.3	1.4	3.1	2.6	2.0	0.1
=57	Serbia`SRB`Southern Europe	2.3	1.4	3.1	2.4	2.2	0.2
=59	Moldova`MDA`Eastern Europe	2.2	1.4	2.9	2.3	2.1	—
=59	Montenegro`MNE`Southern Europe	2.2	1.4	3.0	2.6	1.7	—
=59	Ukraine`UKR`Eastern Europe	2.2	1.3	3.0	2.6	1.7	1.0
62	United Kingdom`GBR`Northern Europe	2.1	1.4	2.8	2.5	1.7	1.4
63	Lithuania`LTU`Northern Europe	2.0	1.2	2.7	2.1	1.8	—
64	Costa Rica`CRI`Central America	1.9	1.7	2.2	2.1	1.8	—
65	Bosnia and Herzegovina`BIH`Southern Europe	1.8	1.1	2.5	1.4	2.1	—
=66	Iceland`ISL`Northern Europe	1.7	0.8	2.5	1.5	1.8	—
=66	Netherlands`NLD`Western Europe	1.7	1.1	2.3	1.8	1.6	0.3
68	Paraguay`PRY`South America	1.5	—	2.9	1.5	1.4	—
=69	Luxembourg`LUX`Western Europe	1.4	0.8	2.0	1.4	1.4	—
=69	Malta`MLT`Southern Europe	1.4	0.9	1.9	1.7	1.0	—
=71	Israel`ISR`Western Asia	1.3	0.8	1.8	1.0	1.6	0.1
=71	Spain`ESP`Southern Europe	1.3	0.7	1.9	1.4	1.3	0.6
=71	Switzerland`CHE`Western Europe	1.3	0.6	1.9	1.1	1.4	0.1
=74	Austria`AUT`Western Europe	1.2	0.7	1.6	1.3	1.1	0.1
=74	France`FRA`Western Europe	1.2	0.6	1.9	0.9	1.5	0.8
=74	Norway`NOR`Northern Europe	1.2	0.5	1.9	1.3	1.1	—
=74	Poland`POL`Eastern Europe	1.2	0.7	1.7	1.4	1.0	0.5
=74	Singapore`SGP`South-eastern Asia	1.2	0.7	1.7	1.1	1.3	—
=79	Denmark`DNK`Northern Europe	1.1	0.6	1.7	1.3	0.9	—
=79	Hungary`HUN`Eastern Europe	1.1	0.7	1.6	1.0	1.2	0.1
=81	Sweden`SWE`Northern Europe	1.0	0.5	1.5	0.9	1.2	0.1
=81	United States`USA`Northern America	1.0	0.9	1.1	1.0	0.9	3.2
=83	Indonesia`IDN`South-eastern Asia	0.9	0.8	0.9	0.8	1.0	2.3
=83	Slovakia`SVK`Eastern Europe	0.9	—	1.3	1.1	0.7	—
=85	Estonia`EST`Northern Europe	0.8	—	1.1	0.8	0.9	—
=85	Germany`DEU`Western Europe	0.8	—	1.3	0.8	0.9	0.7
=85	Pakistan`PAK`Southern Asia	0.8	0.7	0.9	1.0	0.6	1.8
=85	Slovenia`SVN`Southern Europe	0.8	—	1.2	0.9	0.7	—
=89	Brazil`BRA`South America	0.7	0.6	0.8	0.9	—	1.4
=89	Russia`RUS`Eastern Europe	0.7	—	1.0	0.8	0.6	1.1
=91	Canada`CAN`Northern America	0.6	—	0.8	0.6	0.6	0.2
=91	Croatia`HRV`Southern Europe	0.6	—	1.0	0.8	—	—
=91	Latvia`LVA`Northern Europe	0.6	—	0.9	0.7	0.6	—
=91	Sri Lanka`LKA`Southern Asia	0.6	0.5	0.7	0.6	0.7	0.1

02In 2016

At either end

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

Highest

1Malawi48.5
2Liberia38.4
3Zimbabwe36.7
4Chad35.4
5Sierra Leone31.9

Lowest

91Latviashared0.6
91Sri Lankashared0.6
91Croatiashared0.6
91Canadashared0.6
89Russiashared0.7

A higher value is the worse result. The middle country reads 3.4. “Shared” marks a value another country also holds.

Each measure’s ends

90% confidence interval, lower bound (%)
HighestMalawi47.0
Lowest3 share it
Middle country: 3.6
90% confidence interval, upper bound (%)
HighestMalawi50.1
LowestSri Lanka0.7
Middle country: 4.5
Women aged 15 and over (%)
HighestMalawi50.8
Lowest2 share it
Middle country: 3.8
Men aged 15 and over (%)
HighestMalawi46.3
Lowest4 share it
Middle country: 3.4
People in severe food insecurity (millions)
HighestNigeria24.0
Lowest8 share it
Middle country: 1.1

032015 → 2016

Since 2015

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

+1 / −1countries joined / left
83values changed, of 93 in both
51 · 32rose · fell
10unchanged

Rose most

Sierra Leone26.7 → 31.9+5.2
Cameroon22.3 → 26.6+4.3
Tanzania20.6 → 24.8+4.2
Botswana18.4 → 21.5+3.1
Chad32.4 → 35.4+3.0

Fell most

Malaysia7.8 → 6.7−1.1
Nepal10.4 → 9.6−0.8
Romania5.6 → 4.8−0.8
Dominican Republic24.3 → 23.7−0.6
Ireland3.4 → 2.8−0.6

+ Gambia

− Czechia

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.

How values are stored

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.
66 distinct values among 94
Values are stored exactly as published, to 1 decimal. 5 countries share 1.2. Countries sharing a value share a position too.
The position is ours
FAO publishes values only; the order is this site’s.
32 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
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94 rows · 4.9 KB · UTF-8, opens in Excel
Opens with 11 lines of source notes; the table starts on row 13.
Download severe-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 · what it allows, in plain words

Cite this edition

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

0610 held

Other years

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

07Questions