Data for 2018

Prevalence of Severe Food Insecurity, 2018

Name: Prevalence of Severe Food Insecurity, 2018
Creator: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)
License: https://www.fao.org/contact-us/terms/db-terms-of-use/en/

2018, as FAO’s 2026 release gives it · stored as published, never rewritten

Prevalence of Severe Food Insecurity, 2018 covers 111 countries on 6 measures. South Sudan is highest, at 63.7; Latvia is lowest, at 0.6. The middle country reads 4.2. Against 2017, 85 values changed (43 up, 42 down), 10 countries joined, 6 left.

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Prevalence of Severe Food Insecurity · Data for 2018

HighestSouth Sudan

63.7

LowestLatvia

0.6

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

111countries
6measures per country
2018the year it describes
77distinct 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, 2018, 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 111 countries · select a heading to sort

Prevalence of Severe Food Insecurity, 2018: every country, as published by Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).
derived
1	South Sudan`SSD`Eastern Africa	63.7	62.3	65.1	63.7	63.7	6.5
2	Malawi`MWI`Eastern Africa	48.3	46.8	49.9	50.6	46.1	9.0
3	Chad`TCD`Middle Africa	39.7	37.6	41.9	39.5	40.0	6.4
4	Zimbabwe`ZWE`Eastern Africa	34.2	30.8	37.6	35.9	32.5	5.1
5	Sierra Leone`SLE`Western Africa	32.4	32.2	32.6	33.2	31.6	2.4
6	Namibia`NAM`Southern Africa	31.3	29.4	33.2	31.8	30.8	0.8
7	Cameroon`CMR`Middle Africa	28.1	23.3	32.9	26.9	29.3	7.0
=8	Lesotho`LSO`Southern Africa	27.0	25.4	28.6	27.0	27.0	0.6
=8	Papua New Guinea`PNG`Melanesia	27.0	25.3	28.6	27.0	27.0	2.5
10	Zambia`ZMB`Eastern Africa	25.0	23.4	26.5	25.0	25.0	4.5
=11	Tanzania`TZA`Eastern Africa	24.9	23.2	26.7	25.5	24.4	14.3
=11	Uganda`UGA`Eastern Africa	24.9	23.1	26.6	23.7	26.0	10.3
13	Gambia`GMB`Western Africa	24.6	22.0	27.1	23.8	25.3	0.6
14	Kenya`KEN`Eastern Africa	23.4	22.3	24.4	25.5	21.3	11.7
15	Botswana`BWA`Southern Africa	23.1	19.7	26.5	25.8	20.3	0.5
16	Jamaica`JAM`Caribbean	23.0	19.7	26.4	27.1	18.9	0.6
17	Dominican Republic`DOM`Caribbean	22.4	19.8	24.9	23.7	21.0	2.4
18	Guatemala`GTM`Central America	18.1	15.9	20.3	19.2	17.1	3.1
19	Afghanistan`AFG`Southern Asia	17.3	15.2	19.4	20.4	14.1	6.3
20	Libya`LBY`Northern Africa	16.7	14.5	18.9	21.0	12.4	1.1
21	Togo`TGO`Western Africa	15.4	13.9	16.9	13.9	17.0	1.2
22	Nigeria`NGA`Western Africa	15.1	12.9	17.3	14.8	15.3	30.9
23	Benin`BEN`Western Africa	14.8	13.6	16.1	15.2	14.5	1.8
24	El Salvador`SLV`Central America	14.6	12.7	16.4	16.5	12.6	0.9
25	Ethiopia`ETH`Eastern Africa	14.1	12.0	16.3	13.3	15.0	15.9
26	Honduras`HND`Central America	14.0	13.7	14.3	14.9	13.1	1.4
27	Argentina`ARG`South America	12.9	11.0	14.8	15.5	10.3	5.8
=28	Nepal`NPL`Southern Asia	10.3	8.7	11.9	10.2	10.4	2.9
=28	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines`VCT`Caribbean	10.3	9.6	11.0	10.3	10.3	—
30	Albania`ALB`Southern Europe	10.0	8.4	11.7	11.0	9.1	0.3
31	Ecuador`ECU`South America	9.9	7.1	12.6	9.9	9.8	1.7
=32	Niger`NER`Western Africa	9.7	8.4	11.1	9.9	9.6	2.2
=32	Tunisia`TUN`Northern Africa	9.7	7.6	11.8	10.1	9.3	1.1
34	Madagascar`MDG`Eastern Africa	9.5	8.1	10.9	10.5	8.5	2.6
35	Algeria`DZA`Northern Africa	9.3	7.0	11.7	10.2	8.4	4.0
36	Côte d’Ivoire`CIV`Western Africa	9.1	8.2	10.1	9.2	9.0	2.5
37	Cabo Verde`CPV`Western Africa	8.6	6.7	10.5	8.6	8.6	—
38	Iran`IRN`Southern Asia	8.4	7.1	9.8	8.2	8.7	7.2
=39	Grenada`GRD`Caribbean	8.3	4.3	12.3	8.3	8.3	—
=39	Guinea-Bissau`GNB`Western Africa	8.3	7.2	9.5	8.3	8.3	0.2
41	Saint Kitts and Nevis`KNA`Caribbean	8.1	4.9	11.3	—	—	—
42	Kiribati`KIR`Micronesia	8.0	5.9	10.1	8.0	8.0	—
43	Egypt`EGY`Northern Africa	7.4	6.2	8.6	7.9	6.9	7.8
44	Georgia`GEO`Western Asia	7.3	5.9	8.8	7.4	7.3	0.3
45	Tajikistan`TJK`Central Asia	7.1	5.7	8.5	7.2	7.0	0.7
46	South Africa`ZAF`Southern Africa	6.9	6.3	7.6	7.8	6.1	4.1
=47	Mauritius`MUS`Eastern Africa	6.8	5.5	8.1	7.7	5.9	—
=47	Senegal`SEN`Western Africa	6.8	5.6	8.0	6.3	7.3	1.1
49	Malaysia`MYS`South-eastern Asia	6.7	5.4	8.0	6.2	7.3	2.2
50	Ghana`GHA`Western Africa	6.2	5.5	6.9	6.3	6.2	1.9
51	Burkina Faso`BFA`Western Africa	6.0	4.3	7.8	5.8	6.2	1.2
52	Mauritania`MRT`Western Africa	5.9	5.2	6.7	5.6	6.3	0.3
53	Kuwait`KWT`Western Asia	4.9	3.8	6.0	4.2	5.6	0.2
54	Colombia`COL`South America	4.6	4.3	4.9	5.0	4.1	2.2
55	New Zealand`NZL`Australia and New Zealand	4.4	3.2	5.5	4.1	4.6	0.2
56	Lebanon`LBN`Western Asia	4.2	3.1	5.2	2.6	5.7	0.2
57	Paraguay`PRY`South America	4.1	2.6	5.6	4.3	3.9	0.3
58	Moldova`MDA`Eastern Europe	4.0	3.0	4.9	4.5	3.5	0.1
59	Cambodia`KHM`South-eastern Asia	3.9	2.9	4.8	4.5	3.2	0.6
=60	Australia`AUS`Australia and New Zealand	3.8	2.7	5.0	3.7	4.0	1.0
=60	Mexico`MEX`Central America	3.8	3.6	3.9	4.2	3.4	4.7
62	Chile`CHL`South America	3.6	3.3	3.9	3.9	3.3	0.7
=63	Ireland`IRL`Northern Europe	3.5	2.7	4.3	2.7	4.3	0.2
=63	Peru`PER`South America	3.5	3.2	3.7	3.7	3.2	1.1
=63	Samoa`WSM`Polynesia	3.5	2.4	4.6	3.5	3.5	—
66	Romania`ROU`Eastern Europe	3.4	2.3	4.5	3.7	3.2	0.7
=67	North Macedonia`MKD`Southern Europe	3.2	2.1	4.2	3.4	2.9	—
=67	Philippines`PHL`South-eastern Asia	3.2	2.7	3.7	2.9	3.5	3.5
69	Mali`MLI`Western Africa	3.1	1.7	4.5	3.3	2.9	0.6
70	Portugal`PRT`Southern Europe	2.9	2.0	3.8	3.3	2.5	0.3
=71	Costa Rica`CRI`Central America	2.4	2.1	2.6	2.7	2.0	0.1
=71	Vanuatu`VUT`Melanesia	2.4	1.7	3.1	2.4	2.4	—
73	Greece`GRC`Southern Europe	2.3	1.5	3.2	2.4	2.2	0.3
74	Montenegro`MNE`Southern Europe	2.2	1.4	3.1	2.6	1.9	—
=75	Finland`FIN`Northern Europe	2.0	1.2	2.7	2.4	1.5	0.1
=75	Serbia`SRB`Southern Europe	2.0	1.1	2.9	2.3	1.7	0.2
77	Bulgaria`BGR`Eastern Europe	1.9	1.2	2.6	2.3	1.5	0.1
78	Israel`ISR`Western Asia	1.8	1.3	2.3	1.3	2.2	0.1
=79	Netherlands`NLD`Western Europe	1.7	1.0	2.3	2.0	1.3	0.3
=79	Spain`ESP`Southern Europe	1.7	1.0	2.5	2.2	1.3	0.8
=79	Uruguay`URY`South America	1.7	1.3	2.1	1.9	1.5	—
=82	Pakistan`PAK`Southern Asia	1.6	1.5	1.7	1.9	1.3	3.6
=82	Ukraine`UKR`Eastern Europe	1.6	1.0	2.2	2.0	1.3	0.7
=84	Bosnia and Herzegovina`BIH`Southern Europe	1.5	0.9	2.1	1.3	1.7	—
=84	Iceland`ISL`Northern Europe	1.5	0.7	2.4	1.1	1.9	—
86	Singapore`SGP`South-eastern Asia	1.4	0.9	1.9	1.4	1.4	—
87	United Kingdom`GBR`Northern Europe	1.3	0.8	1.8	0.8	1.8	0.9
88	Sweden`SWE`Northern Europe	1.2	0.6	1.7	0.8	1.5	0.1
=89	Armenia`ARM`Western Asia	1.1	1.1	1.2	1.2	1.0	—
=89	Austria`AUT`Western Europe	1.1	—	1.7	1.1	1.1	—
=89	Brazil`BRA`South America	1.1	1.0	1.2	1.5	0.7	2.2
=89	Denmark`DNK`Northern Europe	1.1	0.6	1.6	1.5	0.7	—
=89	Lithuania`LTU`Northern Europe	1.1	0.6	1.6	0.9	1.3	—
=89	Norway`NOR`Northern Europe	1.1	—	1.8	1.2	1.1	—
=95	Croatia`HRV`Southern Europe	0.9	—	1.3	1.0	0.8	—
=95	Estonia`EST`Northern Europe	0.9	0.6	1.3	0.9	0.9	—
=95	Luxembourg`LUX`Western Europe	0.9	—	1.5	0.9	1.0	—
=98	Hungary`HUN`Eastern Europe	0.8	—	1.2	0.8	0.8	—
=98	Indonesia`IDN`South-eastern Asia	0.8	0.8	0.9	0.8	0.9	2.2
=98	Kyrgyzstan`KGZ`Central Asia	0.8	0.8	0.9	0.8	0.9	—
=98	Malta`MLT`Southern Europe	0.8	—	1.1	1.1	—	—
=98	Slovakia`SVK`Eastern Europe	0.8	—	1.2	0.8	0.8	—
=98	United States`USA`Northern America	0.8	0.7	0.9	0.9	0.7	2.7
=104	Canada`CAN`Northern America	0.7	0.6	0.8	0.7	0.8	0.3
=104	France`FRA`Western Europe	0.7	—	1.0	—	1.0	0.5
=104	Germany`DEU`Western Europe	0.7	—	1.0	0.5	0.8	0.6
=104	Japan`JPN`Eastern Asia	0.7	—	1.2	—	1.2	0.9
=104	Sri Lanka`LKA`Southern Asia	0.7	0.6	0.8	0.7	0.7	0.2
=104	Switzerland`CHE`Western Europe	0.7	—	1.1	—	0.9	—
=104	Thailand`THA`South-eastern Asia	0.7	—	0.9	0.7	0.6	0.5
111	Latvia`LVA`Northern Europe	0.6	—	0.9	0.6	0.7	—

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 Sudan63.7
2Malawi48.3
3Chad39.7
4Zimbabwe34.2
5Sierra Leone32.4

Lowest

111Latvia0.6
104Thailandshared0.7
104Sri Lankashared0.7
104Japanshared0.7
104Franceshared0.7

A higher value is the worse result. The middle country reads 4.2. “Shared” marks a value another country also holds.

Each measure’s ends

90% confidence interval, lower bound (%)
HighestSouth Sudan62.3
Lowest6 share it
Middle country: 5.1
90% confidence interval, upper bound (%)
HighestSouth Sudan65.1
Lowest2 share it
Middle country: 5.2
Women aged 15 and over (%)
HighestSouth Sudan63.7
LowestGermany0.5
Middle country: 4.5
Men aged 15 and over (%)
HighestSouth Sudan63.7
LowestThailand0.6
Middle country: 4.3
People in severe food insecurity (millions)
HighestNigeria30.9
Lowest6 share it
Middle country: 1.1

032017 → 2018

Since 2017

What changed between 2017 and this one: who joined or left, and how far the headline moved.

+10 / −6countries joined / left
85values changed, of 101 in both
43 · 42rose · fell
16unchanged

Rose most

Libya14.3 → 16.7+2.4
Kenya21.6 → 23.4+1.8
Argentina11.2 → 12.9+1.7
Ecuador8.4 → 9.9+1.5
Nigeria13.6 → 15.1+1.5

Fell most

Algeria11.4 → 9.3−2.1
South Sudan65.4 → 63.7−1.7
Zimbabwe35.9 → 34.2−1.7
Jamaica24.5 → 23.0−1.5
Tajikistan8.6 → 7.1−1.5

+ Kiribati

+ Saint Kitts and Nevis

+ Lebanon

+ Lesotho

+ Madagascar

+ Philippines

+ Thailand

+ Uruguay

+ Vanuatu

+ South Africa

− Liberia

− Saint Lucia

− Poland

− Russia

− Slovenia

− Seychelles

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 2018.
77 distinct values among 111
Values are stored exactly as published, to 1 decimal. 7 countries share 0.7. Countries sharing a value share a position too.
The position is ours
FAO publishes values only; the order is this site’s.
47 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
111 rows · 5.5 KB · UTF-8, opens in Excel
Opens with 11 lines of source notes; the table starts on row 13.
Download severe-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 · what it allows, in plain words

Cite this edition

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) (2018). Prevalence of Severe Food Insecurity, 2018 [data set], describing 2018. As held by Nations Inquiry, https://nationsinquiry.com/datasets/severe-food-insecurity/2018

0610 held

Other years

‹ The year before
Prevalence of Severe Food Insecurity, 2017
107 countries
The year after ›
Prevalence of Severe Food Insecurity, 2019
124 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