Data for 2019

Prevalence of Severe Food Insecurity, 2019

Name: Prevalence of Severe Food Insecurity, 2019
Creator: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)
License: https://www.fao.org/contact-us/terms/db-terms-of-use/en/

2019, as FAO’s 2026 release gives it · stored as published, never rewritten

Prevalence of Severe Food Insecurity, 2019 covers 124 countries on 6 measures. South Sudan is highest, at 63.0; Vietnam is lowest, at 0.5. The middle country reads 5.0. Against 2018, 91 values changed (57 up, 34 down), 15 countries joined, 2 left.

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Prevalence of Severe Food Insecurity · Data for 2019

HighestSouth Sudan

63.0

LowestVietnam

0.5

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

124countries
6measures per country
2019the year it describes
92distinct 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, 2019, 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 124 countries · select a heading to sort

Prevalence of Severe Food Insecurity, 2019: every country, as published by Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).
derived
1	South Sudan`SSD`Eastern Africa	63.0	61.5	64.4	62.9	62.9	6.6
2	Malawi`MWI`Eastern Africa	49.5	48.0	51.1	51.9	47.2	9.4
3	Haiti`HTI`Caribbean	48.8	46.1	51.5	46.0	51.6	5.4
4	DR Congo`COD`Middle Africa	38.5	36.1	40.9	37.2	39.8	35.8
5	Chad`TCD`Middle Africa	38.4	35.9	41.0	38.2	38.7	6.4
6	Liberia`LBR`Western Africa	37.3	33.5	41.1	38.7	35.9	1.9
7	Sierra Leone`SLE`Western Africa	32.2	30.7	33.7	32.7	31.6	2.5
=8	Namibia`NAM`Southern Africa	32.1	30.2	34.1	33.2	31.1	0.9
=8	Zimbabwe`ZWE`Eastern Africa	32.1	28.4	35.9	33.7	30.6	4.9
10	Cameroon`CMR`Middle Africa	27.3	22.5	32.1	26.1	28.4	7.0
11	Papua New Guinea`PNG`Melanesia	27.0	25.3	28.6	27.0	27.0	2.6
12	Lesotho`LSO`Southern Africa	26.8	25.2	28.4	26.4	27.2	0.6
13	Gambia`GMB`Western Africa	25.7	23.1	28.3	24.5	27.0	0.6
14	Angola`AGO`Middle Africa	25.5	23.5	27.5	26.6	24.3	8.2
15	Kenya`KEN`Eastern Africa	24.9	23.9	25.9	27.1	22.7	12.8
16	Tanzania`TZA`Eastern Africa	24.4	22.7	26.1	24.8	24.1	14.5
17	Botswana`BWA`Southern Africa	23.7	20.3	27.1	26.5	20.9	0.6
18	Uganda`UGA`Eastern Africa	23.4	21.6	25.2	22.3	24.5	10.1
19	Jamaica`JAM`Caribbean	23.3	20.1	26.5	26.2	20.3	0.7
20	Dominican Republic`DOM`Caribbean	23.2	20.5	25.9	24.3	22.0	2.5
21	Zambia`ZMB`Eastern Africa	22.5	20.7	24.4	22.5	22.5	4.2
22	Afghanistan`AFG`Southern Asia	19.8	17.5	22.0	24.8	14.8	7.5
23	Guatemala`GTM`Central America	19.2	17.1	21.3	21.2	17.2	3.3
24	Libya`LBY`Northern Africa	18.6	16.2	21.1	23.7	13.6	1.3
25	Nigeria`NGA`Western Africa	17.3	14.9	19.8	17.8	16.9	36.3
26	Ethiopia`ETH`Eastern Africa	16.4	14.1	18.8	16.1	16.8	19.0
27	El Salvador`SLV`Central America	15.1	13.1	17.1	17.4	12.9	0.9
28	Benin`BEN`Western Africa	14.7	13.4	15.9	15.0	14.3	1.9
29	Honduras`HND`Central America	14.6	14.3	14.9	15.0	14.2	1.5
30	Togo`TGO`Western Africa	14.0	12.5	15.4	12.6	15.4	1.1
31	Argentina`ARG`South America	12.6	10.6	14.7	15.7	9.6	5.7
32	Nepal`NPL`Southern Asia	12.0	10.4	13.7	11.2	12.9	3.4
33	Ecuador`ECU`South America	11.5	8.7	14.3	12.2	10.9	2.0
34	Tunisia`TUN`Northern Africa	10.7	8.5	12.8	11.4	10.0	1.3
35	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines`VCT`Caribbean	10.3	9.6	11.0	10.3	10.3	—
36	Madagascar`MDG`Eastern Africa	9.9	8.5	11.3	11.0	8.8	2.8
37	Georgia`GEO`Western Asia	9.5	7.9	11.0	9.6	9.4	0.4
38	Niger`NER`Western Africa	9.2	7.8	10.5	9.4	8.9	2.1
39	Côte d’Ivoire`CIV`Western Africa	9.0	8.0	10.0	9.1	8.9	2.5
=40	Laos`LAO`South-eastern Asia	8.9	6.9	11.0	11.3	6.6	0.6
=40	Timor-Leste`TLS`South-eastern Asia	8.9	8.0	9.8	8.9	8.9	0.1
42	Albania`ALB`Southern Europe	8.8	7.3	10.3	9.8	7.7	0.3
43	Iran`IRN`Southern Asia	8.7	7.4	10.1	8.3	9.2	7.6
44	Guinea-Bissau`GNB`Western Africa	8.5	7.4	9.6	8.5	8.5	0.2
=45	Grenada`GRD`Caribbean	8.3	4.3	12.3	8.3	8.3	—
=45	Mauritius`MUS`Eastern Africa	8.3	6.8	9.8	10.2	6.5	0.1
47	Saint Kitts and Nevis`KNA`Caribbean	8.1	4.9	11.3	—	—	—
48	Kiribati`KIR`Micronesia	8.0	5.9	10.1	8.0	8.0	—
49	Cabo Verde`CPV`Western Africa	7.6	5.7	9.4	7.6	7.6	—
50	South Africa`ZAF`Southern Africa	7.5	6.8	8.1	8.4	6.5	4.4
51	Tajikistan`TJK`Central Asia	7.1	6.0	8.2	7.7	6.4	0.7
52	Algeria`DZA`Northern Africa	6.9	5.2	8.7	7.2	6.7	3.0
53	Lebanon`LBN`Western Asia	6.8	5.6	8.0	6.1	7.5	0.4
54	Egypt`EGY`Northern Africa	6.7	5.7	7.8	7.0	6.5	7.3
=55	Malaysia`MYS`South-eastern Asia	6.6	5.4	7.9	5.6	7.7	2.2
=55	Mauritania`MRT`Western Africa	6.6	5.9	7.4	6.2	7.1	0.3
57	Burkina Faso`BFA`Western Africa	6.3	4.2	8.5	6.0	6.6	1.3
=58	Ghana`GHA`Western Africa	6.0	5.3	6.7	6.1	6.0	1.9
=58	Senegal`SEN`Western Africa	6.0	4.8	7.2	5.5	6.5	1.0
=58	Tonga`TON`Polynesia	6.0	3.9	8.1	6.0	6.0	—
61	Paraguay`PRY`South America	5.2	3.7	6.7	5.5	4.9	0.3
62	North Macedonia`MKD`Southern Europe	5.0	3.8	6.2	4.9	5.1	—
63	Kuwait`KWT`Western Asia	4.9	3.8	6.0	4.1	5.8	0.2
64	Pakistan`PAK`Southern Asia	4.8	4.7	4.9	5.5	4.0	11.0
65	Colombia`COL`South America	4.7	4.4	5.0	5.2	4.1	2.3
66	Moldova`MDA`Eastern Europe	4.5	3.5	5.5	4.6	4.5	0.1
67	Belize`BLZ`Central America	4.4	3.0	5.8	4.4	4.4	—
68	Ireland`IRL`Northern Europe	4.3	3.4	5.2	3.4	5.1	0.2
=69	Cambodia`KHM`South-eastern Asia	4.0	3.1	5.0	4.8	3.3	0.7
=69	Philippines`PHL`South-eastern Asia	4.0	3.4	4.5	3.8	4.1	4.4
71	New Zealand`NZL`Australia and New Zealand	3.9	2.8	5.1	4.1	3.8	0.2
72	Mexico`MEX`Central America	3.8	3.5	4.0	4.3	3.3	4.8
=73	Chile`CHL`South America	3.6	3.3	3.9	3.8	3.4	0.7
=73	Peru`PER`South America	3.6	3.3	3.9	4.0	3.1	1.2
=73	Samoa`WSM`Polynesia	3.6	2.5	4.7	3.6	3.6	—
76	Romania`ROU`Eastern Europe	3.4	2.2	4.6	3.4	3.3	0.7
77	Australia`AUS`Australia and New Zealand	3.3	2.2	4.3	3.1	3.4	0.8
78	Portugal`PRT`Southern Europe	3.2	2.2	4.2	2.9	3.5	0.3
79	Brazil`BRA`South America	3.1	2.9	3.2	3.5	2.7	6.4
80	Mali`MLI`Western Africa	3.0	—	5.5	3.1	2.9	0.6
81	Montenegro`MNE`Southern Europe	2.8	1.9	3.7	2.7	2.8	—
=82	Costa Rica`CRI`Central America	2.6	2.4	2.9	2.9	2.3	0.1
=82	Serbia`SRB`Southern Europe	2.6	1.7	3.5	2.4	2.8	0.2
84	Ukraine`UKR`Eastern Europe	2.5	1.7	3.3	2.5	2.5	1.1
=85	Bulgaria`BGR`Eastern Europe	2.4	1.5	3.2	2.2	2.6	0.2
=85	Vanuatu`VUT`Melanesia	2.4	1.7	3.1	2.4	2.4	—
87	Maldives`MDV`Southern Asia	2.2	1.1	3.4	1.8	2.7	—
88	Uruguay`URY`South America	2.1	1.7	2.5	2.5	1.8	—
89	Fiji`FJI`Melanesia	2.0	1.4	2.6	2.0	2.0	—
=90	Bosnia and Herzegovina`BIH`Southern Europe	1.9	1.2	2.7	1.9	2.0	—
=90	Finland`FIN`Northern Europe	1.9	1.1	2.6	2.1	1.7	0.1
=90	Israel`ISR`Western Asia	1.9	1.4	2.4	1.5	2.4	0.2
=90	Myanmar`MMR`South-eastern Asia	1.9	1.2	2.6	2.2	1.6	1.0
94	Spain`ESP`Southern Europe	1.8	1.1	2.6	1.9	1.8	0.9
=95	Greece`GRC`Southern Europe	1.7	0.7	2.7	1.6	1.8	0.2
=95	Lithuania`LTU`Northern Europe	1.7	1.1	2.2	1.3	2.1	—
97	Iceland`ISL`Northern Europe	1.5	0.6	2.4	1.4	1.6	—
=98	Hungary`HUN`Eastern Europe	1.4	0.7	2.0	1.7	1.1	0.1
=98	Netherlands`NLD`Western Europe	1.4	0.8	2.1	1.5	1.4	0.2
100	Croatia`HRV`Southern Europe	1.3	0.8	1.8	1.7	0.9	—
101	Sweden`SWE`Northern Europe	1.2	0.6	1.9	1.2	1.3	0.1
=102	Belgium`BEL`Western Europe	1.1	0.6	1.6	1.1	1.2	0.1
=102	Denmark`DNK`Northern Europe	1.1	—	1.7	1.3	0.9	—
=102	Slovakia`SVK`Eastern Europe	1.1	0.6	1.6	1.2	1.0	—
=105	Norway`NOR`Northern Europe	1.0	—	1.6	0.7	1.2	—
=105	Singapore`SGP`South-eastern Asia	1.0	0.6	1.3	1.0	0.9	—
=107	Austria`AUT`Western Europe	0.9	—	1.5	0.9	0.9	—
=107	Canada`CAN`Northern America	0.9	0.8	0.9	0.9	0.9	0.3
=107	Kyrgyzstan`KGZ`Central Asia	0.9	0.9	0.9	0.9	0.9	—
=107	Malta`MLT`Southern Europe	0.9	0.5	1.4	1.3	0.6	—
=107	Sri Lanka`LKA`Southern Asia	0.9	0.8	0.9	0.8	0.9	0.2
=112	Armenia`ARM`Western Asia	0.8	0.7	0.9	0.9	0.6	—
=112	Czechia`CZE`Eastern Europe	0.8	—	1.2	0.9	0.8	—
=112	Estonia`EST`Northern Europe	0.8	—	1.2	0.7	0.9	—
=112	Luxembourg`LUX`Western Europe	0.8	—	1.3	0.7	0.9	—
=112	Thailand`THA`South-eastern Asia	0.8	0.6	1.0	0.9	0.8	0.6
=112	United States`USA`Northern America	0.8	0.7	0.9	0.8	0.7	2.6
=118	France`FRA`Western Europe	0.7	—	1.0	—	1.0	0.4
=118	Germany`DEU`Western Europe	0.7	—	1.2	0.6	0.9	0.6
=118	Japan`JPN`Eastern Asia	0.7	—	1.1	—	1.2	0.8
=118	Latvia`LVA`Northern Europe	0.7	—	1.1	0.6	0.8	—
=118	United Kingdom`GBR`Northern Europe	0.7	—	1.1	0.6	0.9	0.5
123	South Korea`KOR`Eastern Asia	0.6	—	1.0	0.6	0.6	0.3
124	Vietnam`VNM`South-eastern Asia	0.5	—	0.6	0.7	—	0.5

02In 2019

At either end

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

Highest

1South Sudan63.0
2Malawi49.5
3Haiti48.8
4DR Congo38.5
5Chad38.4

Lowest

124Vietnam0.5
123South Korea0.6
118Latviashared0.7
118Japanshared0.7
118United Kingdomshared0.7

A higher value is the worse result. The middle country reads 5.0. “Shared” marks a value another country also holds.

Each measure’s ends

90% confidence interval, lower bound (%)
HighestSouth Sudan61.5
LowestMalta0.5
Middle country: 5.1
90% confidence interval, upper bound (%)
HighestSouth Sudan64.4
LowestVietnam0.6
Middle country: 6.1
Women aged 15 and over (%)
HighestSouth Sudan62.9
Lowest4 share it
Middle country: 5.5
Men aged 15 and over (%)
HighestSouth Sudan62.9
Lowest3 share it
Middle country: 5.1
People in severe food insecurity (millions)
HighestNigeria36.3
Lowest8 share it
Middle country: 1.0

032018 → 2019

Since 2018

What changed between 2018 and this one: who joined or left, and how far the headline moved.

+15 / −2countries joined / left
91values changed, of 109 in both
57 · 34rose · fell
18unchanged

Rose most

Pakistan1.6 → 4.8+3.2
Lebanon4.2 → 6.8+2.6
Afghanistan17.3 → 19.8+2.5
Ethiopia14.1 → 16.4+2.3
Nigeria15.1 → 17.3+2.2

Fell most

Zambia25.0 → 22.5−2.5
Algeria9.3 → 6.9−2.4
Zimbabwe34.2 → 32.1−2.1
Uganda24.9 → 23.4−1.5
Togo15.4 → 14.0−1.4

+ Angola

+ Belgium

+ Belize

+ DR Congo

+ Czechia

+ Fiji

+ Haiti

+ South Korea

+ Laos

+ Liberia

+ Maldives

+ Myanmar

+ Timor-Leste

+ Tonga

+ Vietnam

− Switzerland

− Indonesia

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 2019.
92 distinct values among 124
Values are stored exactly as published, to 1 decimal. 6 countries share 0.8. Countries sharing a value share a position too.
The position is ours
FAO publishes values only; the order is this site’s.
49 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
124 rows · 6.0 KB · UTF-8, opens in Excel
Opens with 11 lines of source notes; the table starts on row 13.
Download severe-food-insecurity-2019-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) (2019). Prevalence of Severe Food Insecurity, 2019 [data set], describing 2019. As held by Nations Inquiry, https://nationsinquiry.com/datasets/severe-food-insecurity/2019

0610 held

Other years

‹ The year before
Prevalence of Severe Food Insecurity, 2018
111 countries
The year after ›
Prevalence of Severe Food Insecurity, 2020
133 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