Data for 2017

Prevalence of Severe Food Insecurity, 2017

Name: Prevalence of Severe Food Insecurity, 2017
Creator: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)
License: https://www.fao.org/contact-us/terms/db-terms-of-use/en/

2017, as FAO’s 2026 release gives it · stored as published, never rewritten

Prevalence of Severe Food Insecurity, 2017 covers 107 countries on 6 measures. South Sudan is highest, at 65.4; Japan is lowest, at 0.5. The middle country reads 4.0. Against 2016, 76 values changed (40 up, 36 down), 13 countries joined.

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Prevalence of Severe Food Insecurity · Data for 2017

HighestSouth Sudan

65.4

LowestJapan

0.5

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

107countries
6measures per country
2017the year it describes
72distinct 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, 2017, 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 107 countries · select a heading to sort

Prevalence of Severe Food Insecurity, 2017: every country, as published by Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).
derived
1	South Sudan`SSD`Eastern Africa	65.4	64.1	66.8	65.4	65.4	6.8
2	Malawi`MWI`Eastern Africa	49.7	48.2	51.3	52.1	47.4	9.0
3	Chad`TCD`Middle Africa	38.7	36.8	40.6	38.5	39.0	6.1
4	Liberia`LBR`Western Africa	38.3	34.5	42.1	39.7	36.8	1.9
5	Zimbabwe`ZWE`Eastern Africa	35.9	32.7	39.1	37.1	34.6	5.3
6	Sierra Leone`SLE`Western Africa	32.6	32.4	32.8	33.4	31.8	2.4
7	Namibia`NAM`Southern Africa	30.5	28.6	32.4	30.7	30.2	0.8
8	Cameroon`CMR`Middle Africa	28.2	23.4	33.0	27.0	29.4	6.8
9	Papua New Guinea`PNG`Melanesia	27.0	25.3	28.6	27.0	27.0	2.5
=10	Tanzania`TZA`Eastern Africa	25.6	23.9	27.3	26.6	24.6	14.3
=10	Uganda`UGA`Eastern Africa	25.6	23.8	27.4	24.4	26.8	10.3
12	Jamaica`JAM`Caribbean	24.5	21.0	28.0	29.0	20.0	0.7
13	Zambia`ZMB`Eastern Africa	24.1	22.6	25.6	24.1	24.1	4.2
14	Gambia`GMB`Western Africa	23.6	21.0	26.1	23.3	23.8	0.6
15	Dominican Republic`DOM`Caribbean	23.4	21.3	25.5	25.1	21.6	2.5
16	Botswana`BWA`Southern Africa	22.8	19.4	26.2	25.6	20.1	0.5
17	Kenya`KEN`Eastern Africa	21.6	20.6	22.7	23.6	19.7	10.6
18	Afghanistan`AFG`Southern Asia	17.3	14.5	20.2	19.4	15.3	6.2
19	Guatemala`GTM`Central America	17.1	14.9	19.4	17.8	16.5	2.8
20	Togo`TGO`Western Africa	15.8	14.3	17.3	14.2	17.4	1.2
21	Ethiopia`ETH`Eastern Africa	14.8	12.5	17.1	14.1	15.5	16.2
22	Benin`BEN`Western Africa	14.4	13.1	15.6	14.7	14.0	1.7
23	Libya`LBY`Northern Africa	14.3	12.3	16.4	18.2	10.5	1.0
24	Honduras`HND`Central America	14.1	13.8	14.4	14.9	13.2	1.3
25	El Salvador`SLV`Central America	14.0	12.3	15.8	15.8	12.2	0.9
26	Nigeria`NGA`Western Africa	13.6	11.9	15.3	12.5	14.7	27.2
27	Algeria`DZA`Northern Africa	11.4	8.7	14.1	12.5	10.3	4.8
28	Argentina`ARG`South America	11.2	9.4	13.1	13.0	9.5	5.0
29	Albania`ALB`Southern Europe	11.0	9.3	12.7	12.7	9.3	0.3
30	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines`VCT`Caribbean	10.3	9.6	11.0	10.3	10.3	—
31	Niger`NER`Western Africa	10.0	8.7	11.4	10.2	9.8	2.1
=32	Cabo Verde`CPV`Western Africa	9.6	7.6	11.5	9.6	9.6	—
=32	Nepal`NPL`Southern Asia	9.6	7.9	11.2	10.5	8.6	2.7
34	Tunisia`TUN`Northern Africa	9.1	6.8	11.5	9.5	8.8	1.1
35	Iran`IRN`Southern Asia	8.7	7.4	10.1	8.3	9.2	7.4
=36	Egypt`EGY`Northern Africa	8.6	7.1	10.0	9.8	7.3	8.9
=36	Tajikistan`TJK`Central Asia	8.6	6.7	10.6	8.6	8.7	0.8
=38	Côte d’Ivoire`CIV`Western Africa	8.4	7.4	9.4	8.5	8.3	2.2
=38	Ecuador`ECU`South America	8.4	5.7	11.1	8.7	8.1	1.4
=40	Grenada`GRD`Caribbean	8.3	4.3	12.3	8.3	8.3	—
=40	Guinea-Bissau`GNB`Western Africa	8.3	7.1	9.4	8.3	8.3	0.2
42	Georgia`GEO`Western Asia	7.5	5.9	9.1	7.4	7.6	0.3
43	Senegal`SEN`Western Africa	7.0	5.8	8.2	6.5	7.6	1.1
44	Ghana`GHA`Western Africa	6.9	6.2	7.7	7.0	6.9	2.1
45	Malaysia`MYS`South-eastern Asia	6.7	5.4	8.0	6.2	7.3	2.2
46	Mauritius`MUS`Eastern Africa	6.2	5.1	7.4	7.3	5.2	—
47	Burkina Faso`BFA`Western Africa	5.9	4.8	6.9	5.4	6.3	1.2
48	Mauritania`MRT`Western Africa	5.5	4.7	6.2	5.6	5.4	0.2
49	Kuwait`KWT`Western Asia	4.9	3.8	6.0	4.0	5.8	0.2
=50	Colombia`COL`South America	4.5	4.3	4.8	4.6	4.4	2.2
=50	Saint Lucia`LCA`Caribbean	4.5	3.0	6.0	4.5	4.5	—
52	New Zealand`NZL`Australia and New Zealand	4.2	3.0	5.3	4.2	4.2	0.2
=53	Cambodia`KHM`South-eastern Asia	4.0	3.0	4.9	4.6	3.3	0.6
=53	Romania`ROU`Eastern Europe	4.0	2.9	5.2	4.8	3.3	0.8
55	Australia`AUS`Australia and New Zealand	3.6	2.6	4.7	3.6	3.7	0.9
56	Mexico`MEX`Central America	3.5	3.3	3.7	3.9	3.1	4.3
=57	Chile`CHL`South America	3.4	3.1	3.7	3.6	3.2	0.6
=57	Peru`PER`South America	3.4	3.1	3.7	3.8	3.0	1.1
=57	Samoa`WSM`Polynesia	3.4	2.3	4.5	3.4	3.4	—
=60	Greece`GRC`Southern Europe	3.2	2.1	4.2	3.0	3.3	0.3
=60	Mali`MLI`Western Africa	3.2	2.6	3.7	3.3	3.1	0.6
=60	Portugal`PRT`Southern Europe	3.2	2.3	4.2	3.5	3.0	0.3
=60	Seychelles`SYC`Eastern Africa	3.2	1.3	5.1	3.2	3.2	—
64	North Macedonia`MKD`Southern Europe	3.1	2.0	4.2	3.0	3.2	—
=65	Ireland`IRL`Northern Europe	2.9	2.1	3.6	2.3	3.5	0.1
=65	Moldova`MDA`Eastern Europe	2.9	2.0	3.7	2.8	2.9	—
67	Paraguay`PRY`South America	2.6	1.1	4.1	2.7	2.5	0.2
68	Montenegro`MNE`Southern Europe	2.3	1.4	3.2	2.9	1.7	—
69	Costa Rica`CRI`Central America	2.2	1.9	2.4	2.5	1.8	0.1
=70	Bulgaria`BGR`Eastern Europe	2.1	1.3	3.0	2.4	1.9	0.2
=70	Finland`FIN`Northern Europe	2.1	1.3	2.9	2.3	1.8	0.1
72	Ukraine`UKR`Eastern Europe	2.0	1.3	2.7	2.2	1.8	0.9
73	Serbia`SRB`Southern Europe	1.9	1.2	2.7	2.3	1.5	0.2
74	United Kingdom`GBR`Northern Europe	1.7	1.1	2.3	1.7	1.7	1.1
=75	Israel`ISR`Western Asia	1.6	1.1	2.1	1.2	1.9	0.1
=75	Lithuania`LTU`Northern Europe	1.6	0.9	2.2	1.7	1.5	—
=77	Iceland`ISL`Northern Europe	1.5	0.7	2.4	1.1	1.9	—
=77	Netherlands`NLD`Western Europe	1.5	0.8	2.1	1.7	1.3	0.3
=79	Singapore`SGP`South-eastern Asia	1.4	0.9	2.0	1.3	1.6	—
=79	Spain`ESP`Southern Europe	1.4	0.8	2.0	1.6	1.3	0.7
=81	Bosnia and Herzegovina`BIH`Southern Europe	1.3	0.8	1.9	1.0	1.6	—
=81	Pakistan`PAK`Southern Asia	1.3	1.2	1.4	1.6	1.0	2.8
83	Armenia`ARM`Western Asia	1.2	1.2	1.3	1.3	1.1	—
=84	Austria`AUT`Western Europe	1.1	0.6	1.6	1.2	1.1	—
=84	Denmark`DNK`Northern Europe	1.1	0.6	1.6	1.6	0.7	—
=84	Norway`NOR`Northern Europe	1.1	—	1.8	1.1	1.1	—
=87	Estonia`EST`Northern Europe	1.0	0.7	1.4	1.0	1.1	—
=87	Malta`MLT`Southern Europe	1.0	0.6	1.4	1.4	0.7	—
=87	Sweden`SWE`Northern Europe	1.0	0.5	1.6	0.7	1.3	0.1
=90	Brazil`BRA`South America	0.9	0.8	1.0	1.2	0.6	1.8
=90	France`FRA`Western Europe	0.9	—	1.3	—	1.3	0.6
=90	Hungary`HUN`Eastern Europe	0.9	0.5	1.3	0.9	1.0	—
=90	Indonesia`IDN`South-eastern Asia	0.9	0.8	1.0	0.8	1.0	2.4
=90	Luxembourg`LUX`Western Europe	0.9	—	1.4	0.8	1.0	—
=90	Slovakia`SVK`Eastern Europe	0.9	—	1.3	1.1	0.7	—
=90	United States`USA`Northern America	0.9	0.8	1.0	0.9	0.9	3.0
=97	Croatia`HRV`Southern Europe	0.8	—	1.2	0.8	0.7	—
=97	Kyrgyzstan`KGZ`Central Asia	0.8	0.8	0.9	0.8	0.9	—
=97	Switzerland`CHE`Western Europe	0.8	—	1.3	0.5	1.1	—
=100	Germany`DEU`Western Europe	0.7	—	1.1	0.6	0.9	0.6
=100	Poland`POL`Eastern Europe	0.7	—	1.1	0.8	0.7	0.3
=102	Canada`CAN`Northern America	0.6	—	0.8	0.7	0.6	0.2
=102	Latvia`LVA`Northern Europe	0.6	—	0.8	—	0.6	—
=102	Russia`RUS`Eastern Europe	0.6	—	0.8	0.5	0.7	0.9
=102	Slovenia`SVN`Southern Europe	0.6	—	0.9	0.7	0.6	—
=102	Sri Lanka`LKA`Southern Asia	0.6	0.5	0.7	0.6	0.6	0.1
107	Japan`JPN`Eastern Asia	0.5	—	1.0	—	0.9	0.7

02In 2017

At either end

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

Highest

1South Sudan65.4
2Malawi49.7
3Chad38.7
4Liberia38.3
5Zimbabwe35.9

Lowest

107Japan0.5
102Sloveniashared0.6
102Russiashared0.6
102Latviashared0.6
102Sri Lankashared0.6

A higher value is the worse result. The middle country reads 4.0. “Shared” marks a value another country also holds.

Each measure’s ends

90% confidence interval, lower bound (%)
HighestSouth Sudan64.1
Lowest3 share it
Middle country: 4.5
90% confidence interval, upper bound (%)
HighestSouth Sudan66.8
LowestSri Lanka0.7
Middle country: 4.9
Women aged 15 and over (%)
HighestSouth Sudan65.4
Lowest2 share it
Middle country: 4.4
Men aged 15 and over (%)
HighestSouth Sudan65.4
Lowest5 share it
Middle country: 3.5
People in severe food insecurity (millions)
HighestNigeria27.2
Lowest6 share it
Middle country: 1.1

032016 → 2017

Since 2016

What changed between 2016 and this one: who joined or left, and how far the headline moved.

+13 / −0countries joined / left
76values changed, of 94 in both
40 · 36rose · fell
18unchanged

Rose most

Kenya17.8 → 21.6+3.8
Chad35.4 → 38.7+3.3
Argentina8.6 → 11.2+2.6
Afghanistan15.1 → 17.3+2.2
Libya12.4 → 14.3+1.9

Fell most

Algeria12.7 → 11.4−1.3
Zimbabwe36.7 → 35.9−0.8
Romania4.8 → 4.0−0.8
Iran9.3 → 8.7−0.6
Bosnia and Herzegovina1.8 → 1.3−0.5

+ Armenia

+ Burkina Faso

+ Cabo Verde

+ Guinea-Bissau

+ Grenada

+ Japan

+ Kyrgyzstan

+ Mali

+ Niger

+ Papua New Guinea

+ South Sudan

+ Saint Vincent and the Grenadines

+ Samoa

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 2017.
72 distinct values among 107
Values are stored exactly as published, to 1 decimal. 7 countries share 0.9. Countries sharing a value share a position too.
The position is ours
FAO publishes values only; the order is this site’s.
44 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
107 rows · 5.3 KB · UTF-8, opens in Excel
Opens with 11 lines of source notes; the table starts on row 13.
Download severe-food-insecurity-2017-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 · what it allows, in plain words

Cite this edition

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) (2017). Prevalence of Severe Food Insecurity, 2017 [data set], describing 2017. As held by Nations Inquiry, https://nationsinquiry.com/datasets/severe-food-insecurity/2017

0610 held

Other years

‹ The year before
Prevalence of Severe Food Insecurity, 2016
94 countries
The year after ›
Prevalence of Severe Food Insecurity, 2018
111 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