Data for 2020

Prevalence of Severe Food Insecurity, 2020

Name: Prevalence of Severe Food Insecurity, 2020
Creator: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)
License: https://www.fao.org/contact-us/terms/db-terms-of-use/en/

2020, as FAO’s 2026 release gives it · stored as published, never rewritten

Prevalence of Severe Food Insecurity, 2020 covers 133 countries on 6 measures. South Sudan is highest, at 62.3; 2 countries share the lowest reading, 0.6. The middle country reads 5.6. Against 2019, 107 values changed (71 up, 36 down), 12 countries joined, 3 left.

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Prevalence of Severe Food Insecurity · Data for 2020

HighestSouth Sudan

62.3

Lowest2 countries share it

0.6

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

133countries
6measures per country
2020the year it describes
90distinct 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, 2020, as published. FAO ranks nobody on this measure; the position is derived here by ordering the published values. “=” marks a shared position.

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Showing 25 of 133 countries · select a heading to sort

Prevalence of Severe Food Insecurity, 2020: every country, as published by Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).
derived
1	South Sudan`SSD`Eastern Africa	62.3	60.8	63.7	62.3	62.3	6.6
2	Central African Republic`CAF`Middle Africa	56.3	54.1	58.5	56.3	56.3	2.8
3	Malawi`MWI`Eastern Africa	51.0	49.4	52.6	53.4	48.6	10.0
4	Haiti`HTI`Caribbean	45.2	41.2	49.2	44.0	46.3	5.1
5	DR Congo`COD`Middle Africa	39.2	36.8	41.6	37.9	40.5	37.6
6	Liberia`LBR`Western Africa	37.3	33.5	41.1	38.7	35.9	1.9
7	Chad`TCD`Middle Africa	32.7	30.4	35.0	32.5	32.9	5.6
8	Namibia`NAM`Southern Africa	32.6	30.6	34.5	34.1	31.1	0.9
9	Sierra Leone`SLE`Western Africa	31.5	28.7	34.3	31.7	31.2	2.5
10	Zimbabwe`ZWE`Eastern Africa	31.3	27.5	35.1	33.1	29.6	4.9
11	Angola`AGO`Middle Africa	28.1	27.1	29.0	29.3	26.8	9.4
12	Comoros`COM`Eastern Africa	27.4	21.5	33.3	28.4	26.4	0.2
13	Gambia`GMB`Western Africa	27.1	24.5	29.7	25.4	28.8	0.7
14	Cameroon`CMR`Middle Africa	26.7	23.1	30.4	25.6	27.9	7.0
15	Lesotho`LSO`Southern Africa	26.4	24.8	28.0	25.6	27.2	0.6
16	Kenya`KEN`Eastern Africa	26.1	25.0	27.1	28.4	23.8	13.6
17	Tanzania`TZA`Eastern Africa	25.8	24.1	27.5	25.8	25.9	15.8
18	Botswana`BWA`Southern Africa	25.4	22.0	28.8	28.5	22.4	0.6
19	Jamaica`JAM`Caribbean	23.1	19.8	26.5	26.7	19.6	0.7
20	Afghanistan`AFG`Southern Asia	22.6	20.1	25.0	27.8	17.4	8.8
21	Zambia`ZMB`Eastern Africa	22.4	20.6	24.3	22.4	22.4	4.3
22	Dominican Republic`DOM`Caribbean	22.2	19.9	24.4	23.0	21.4	2.4
23	Uganda`UGA`Eastern Africa	22.1	20.4	23.9	21.1	23.1	9.8
=24	Guatemala`GTM`Central America	20.7	18.6	22.8	23.6	17.8	3.6
=24	Libya`LBY`Northern Africa	20.7	18.1	23.3	26.3	15.1	1.5
26	Nigeria`NGA`Western Africa	19.8	17.6	21.9	20.0	19.5	42.3
27	Ethiopia`ETH`Eastern Africa	19.6	16.9	22.4	20.1	19.3	23.4
28	Djibouti`DJI`Eastern Africa	16.5	12.4	20.6	15.4	17.6	0.2
29	Honduras`HND`Central America	15.1	14.8	15.4	15.9	14.3	1.5
30	El Salvador`SLV`Central America	14.7	12.7	16.7	17.0	12.4	0.9
31	Benin`BEN`Western Africa	14.5	13.2	15.8	14.9	14.2	1.9
=32	Eswatini`SWZ`Southern Africa	14.1	11.8	16.3	13.2	14.9	0.2
=32	São Tomé and Príncipe`STP`Middle Africa	14.1	11.5	16.8	14.4	13.8	—
34	Nepal`NPL`Southern Asia	13.6	11.8	15.4	13.0	14.2	3.9
35	Togo`TGO`Western Africa	13.5	11.9	15.1	12.1	14.8	1.0
36	Argentina`ARG`South America	13.0	10.8	15.2	15.8	10.1	5.9
37	Ecuador`ECU`South America	12.8	9.9	15.6	14.1	11.4	2.2
38	Tunisia`TUN`Northern Africa	12.6	10.4	14.7	12.5	12.7	1.5
39	Madagascar`MDG`Eastern Africa	10.3	8.9	11.7	11.4	9.2	3.0
40	Lebanon`LBN`Western Asia	10.2	8.8	11.6	10.4	10.1	0.6
41	Georgia`GEO`Western Asia	9.5	8.1	11.0	10.5	8.6	0.4
42	Nauru`NRU`Micronesia	9.2	6.9	11.5	9.2	9.2	—
=43	Côte d’Ivoire`CIV`Western Africa	9.1	8.2	10.0	9.2	9.0	2.6
=43	Mauritius`MUS`Eastern Africa	9.1	7.2	11.0	10.8	7.3	0.1
45	Timor-Leste`TLS`South-eastern Asia	8.9	8.0	9.8	8.9	8.9	0.1
46	Guinea-Bissau`GNB`Western Africa	8.7	7.5	10.0	8.7	8.7	0.2
=47	Laos`LAO`South-eastern Asia	8.3	6.5	10.1	9.9	6.8	0.6
=47	Niger`NER`Western Africa	8.3	7.3	9.3	8.6	8.0	2.0
49	Saint Kitts and Nevis`KNA`Caribbean	8.1	4.9	11.3	—	—	—
=50	Kiribati`KIR`Micronesia	8.0	5.9	10.1	8.0	8.0	—
=50	South Africa`ZAF`Southern Africa	8.0	7.3	8.6	8.9	7.0	4.8
=52	Albania`ALB`Southern Europe	7.7	6.2	9.1	8.7	6.7	0.2
=52	Iran`IRN`Southern Asia	7.7	6.5	8.9	7.3	8.0	6.8
54	Tajikistan`TJK`Central Asia	7.6	6.2	9.0	8.6	6.6	0.7
55	Grenada`GRD`Caribbean	7.5	3.5	11.5	7.5	7.5	—
56	Barbados`BRB`Caribbean	7.4	5.1	9.7	7.8	7.0	—
=57	Mauritania`MRT`Western Africa	7.2	6.4	8.0	6.7	7.6	0.3
=57	Suriname`SUR`South America	7.2	4.9	9.5	8.2	6.2	—
59	Egypt`EGY`Northern Africa	7.1	6.0	8.2	7.7	6.5	7.8
60	Burkina Faso`BFA`Western Africa	6.8	4.6	9.0	6.3	7.3	1.5
61	Cabo Verde`CPV`Western Africa	6.4	4.7	8.2	6.4	6.4	—
=62	Brazil`BRA`South America	6.3	6.2	6.4	7.5	5.1	13.1
=62	Malaysia`MYS`South-eastern Asia	6.3	5.1	7.6	5.0	7.7	2.1
64	Algeria`DZA`Northern Africa	6.2	4.3	8.1	5.3	7.2	2.7
65	North Macedonia`MKD`Southern Europe	6.0	4.7	7.2	6.3	5.6	0.1
66	Dominica`DMA`Caribbean	5.8	4.2	7.5	5.8	5.8	—
=67	Ghana`GHA`Western Africa	5.6	4.9	6.4	5.7	5.6	1.8
=67	Paraguay`PRY`South America	5.6	4.1	7.1	5.9	5.3	0.4
69	Senegal`SEN`Western Africa	5.1	3.9	6.2	4.7	5.4	0.8
70	Colombia`COL`South America	5.0	4.8	5.3	5.7	4.4	2.6
=71	Kuwait`KWT`Western Asia	4.9	3.8	6.0	4.1	5.8	0.2
=71	Moldova`MDA`Eastern Europe	4.9	3.8	5.9	5.3	4.5	0.1
=71	Pakistan`PAK`Southern Asia	4.9	4.8	5.0	5.9	3.9	11.6
=71	Tonga`TON`Polynesia	4.9	3.0	6.7	4.8	4.9	—
=75	Belize`BLZ`Central America	4.4	3.1	5.7	4.4	4.4	—
=75	Cambodia`KHM`South-eastern Asia	4.4	3.5	5.3	5.1	3.7	0.7
77	Fiji`FJI`Melanesia	4.2	2.6	5.8	4.2	4.2	—
78	Samoa`WSM`Polynesia	3.9	2.8	5.0	3.9	3.9	—
=79	Chile`CHL`South America	3.8	3.2	4.3	4.1	3.4	0.7
=79	Peru`PER`South America	3.8	3.5	4.1	4.3	3.3	1.2
=79	Serbia`SRB`Southern Europe	3.8	2.5	5.0	4.0	3.5	0.3
=82	Myanmar`MMR`South-eastern Asia	3.7	2.8	4.5	4.3	3.1	1.9
=82	Romania`ROU`Eastern Europe	3.7	2.6	4.7	3.2	4.1	0.7
84	Australia`AUS`Australia and New Zealand	3.6	2.7	4.6	3.1	4.2	0.9
=85	Mexico`MEX`Central America	3.5	3.2	3.9	4.1	2.9	4.5
=85	New Zealand`NZL`Australia and New Zealand	3.5	2.4	4.7	3.2	3.9	0.2
=85	Philippines`PHL`South-eastern Asia	3.5	3.1	3.9	3.4	3.6	3.9
=88	Bahamas`BHS`Caribbean	3.4	1.8	5.0	3.3	3.5	—
=88	Montenegro`MNE`Southern Europe	3.4	2.3	4.5	2.8	4.0	—
=90	Ireland`IRL`Northern Europe	3.2	2.5	3.9	2.5	3.9	0.2
=90	Portugal`PRT`Southern Europe	3.2	2.2	4.2	2.9	3.5	0.3
=90	Ukraine`UKR`Eastern Europe	3.2	2.2	4.1	2.9	3.4	1.4
93	Bulgaria`BGR`Eastern Europe	2.9	1.9	3.9	3.1	2.7	0.2
=94	Bosnia and Herzegovina`BIH`Southern Europe	2.8	1.9	3.6	2.7	2.8	—
=94	Costa Rica`CRI`Central America	2.8	2.5	3.1	3.2	2.5	0.1
=94	Mali`MLI`Western Africa	2.8	—	5.4	2.9	2.7	0.6
97	Uruguay`URY`South America	2.5	2.1	2.9	2.9	2.0	—
=98	Finland`FIN`Northern Europe	2.4	1.4	3.3	2.7	2.1	0.1
=98	Vanuatu`VUT`Melanesia	2.4	1.7	3.1	2.4	2.4	—
100	Maldives`MDV`Southern Asia	2.2	1.1	3.4	1.8	2.7	—
101	Hungary`HUN`Eastern Europe	2.1	1.2	2.9	2.6	1.6	0.2
102	Spain`ESP`Southern Europe	2.0	1.1	2.8	2.0	1.9	0.9
103	Lithuania`LTU`Northern Europe	1.9	1.1	2.7	1.7	2.1	—
=104	Croatia`HRV`Southern Europe	1.6	1.1	2.2	2.1	1.1	—
=104	Czechia`CZE`Eastern Europe	1.6	0.9	2.2	1.4	1.8	0.2
=104	Slovakia`SVK`Eastern Europe	1.6	1.1	2.2	1.8	1.5	—
107	Greece`GRC`Southern Europe	1.5	0.8	2.3	1.7	1.4	0.2
=108	Denmark`DNK`Northern Europe	1.4	0.8	2.0	1.6	1.1	—
=108	Malta`MLT`Southern Europe	1.4	0.8	2.0	1.8	1.0	—
=108	Netherlands`NLD`Western Europe	1.4	0.7	2.1	1.3	1.4	0.2
=111	Austria`AUT`Western Europe	1.3	—	2.0	1.2	1.3	0.1
=111	Belgium`BEL`Western Europe	1.3	0.7	1.8	1.2	1.3	0.1
=111	Iceland`ISL`Northern Europe	1.3	0.6	2.0	1.5	1.1	—
=111	Sweden`SWE`Northern Europe	1.3	0.7	1.9	1.3	1.3	0.1
115	Israel`ISR`Western Asia	1.2	0.7	1.7	0.9	1.6	0.1
=116	Germany`DEU`Western Europe	1.1	—	1.7	1.0	1.1	0.9
=116	Sri Lanka`LKA`Southern Asia	1.1	1.0	1.2	1.0	1.2	0.2
=116	Thailand`THA`South-eastern Asia	1.1	0.9	1.3	1.2	0.9	0.8
=116	United Kingdom`GBR`Northern Europe	1.1	0.6	1.7	1.2	1.1	0.8
=120	Canada`CAN`Northern America	1.0	1.0	1.1	1.1	1.0	0.4
=120	France`FRA`Western Europe	1.0	0.6	1.4	0.7	1.3	0.7
=120	Kyrgyzstan`KGZ`Central Asia	1.0	1.0	1.0	0.9	1.0	—
=120	Norway`NOR`Northern Europe	1.0	0.6	1.5	0.8	1.3	—
=124	Japan`JPN`Eastern Asia	0.9	—	1.4	—	1.4	1.2
=124	Poland`POL`Eastern Europe	0.9	—	1.4	1.0	0.8	0.4
126	Estonia`EST`Northern Europe	0.8	—	1.3	0.8	0.8	—
=127	Latvia`LVA`Northern Europe	0.7	—	1.0	0.7	0.8	—
=127	Luxembourg`LUX`Western Europe	0.7	—	1.2	0.6	0.8	—
=127	Singapore`SGP`South-eastern Asia	0.7	0.5	0.9	0.7	0.7	—
=127	South Korea`KOR`Eastern Asia	0.7	—	1.2	0.6	0.9	0.4
=127	United States`USA`Northern America	0.7	0.6	0.8	0.8	0.7	2.5
=132	Slovenia`SVN`Southern Europe	0.6	—	1.0	0.9	—	—
=132	Vietnam`VNM`South-eastern Asia	0.6	0.6	0.7	0.7	0.5	0.6

02In 2020

At either end

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

Highest

Lowest

132Vietnamshared0.6
132Sloveniashared0.6
127United Statesshared0.7
127Singaporeshared0.7
127Latviashared0.7

A higher value is the worse result. The middle country reads 5.6. “Shared” marks a value another country also holds.

Each measure’s ends

90% confidence interval, lower bound (%)
HighestSouth Sudan60.8
LowestSingapore0.5
Middle country: 4.8
90% confidence interval, upper bound (%)
HighestSouth Sudan63.7
LowestVietnam0.7
Middle country: 6.7
Women aged 15 and over (%)
HighestSouth Sudan62.3
Lowest2 share it
Middle country: 5.7
Men aged 15 and over (%)
HighestSouth Sudan62.3
LowestVietnam0.5
Middle country: 5.6
People in severe food insecurity (millions)
HighestNigeria42.3
Lowest10 share it
Middle country: 0.9

032019 → 2020

Since 2019

What changed between 2019 and this one: who joined or left, and how far the headline moved.

+12 / −3countries joined / left
107values changed, of 121 in both
71 · 36rose · fell
14unchanged

Rose most

Lebanon6.8 → 10.2+3.4
Ethiopia16.4 → 19.6+3.2
Brazil3.1 → 6.3+3.2
Afghanistan19.8 → 22.6+2.8
Angola25.5 → 28.1+2.6

Fell most

Chad38.4 → 32.7−5.7
Haiti48.8 → 45.2−3.6
Uganda23.4 → 22.1−1.3
Cabo Verde7.6 → 6.4−1.2
Albania8.8 → 7.7−1.1

+ Bahamas

+ Barbados

+ Central African Republic

+ Comoros

+ Djibouti

+ Dominica

+ Nauru

+ Poland

+ São Tomé and Príncipe

+ Suriname

+ Slovenia

+ Eswatini

− Armenia

− Papua New Guinea

− Saint Vincent and the Grenadines

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 2020.
90 distinct values among 133
Values are stored exactly as published, to 1 decimal. 5 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.
46 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
133 rows · 6.3 KB · UTF-8, opens in Excel
Opens with 11 lines of source notes; the table starts on row 13.
Download severe-food-insecurity-2020-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) (2020). Prevalence of Severe Food Insecurity, 2020 [data set], describing 2020. As held by Nations Inquiry, https://nationsinquiry.com/datasets/severe-food-insecurity/2020

0610 held

Other years

‹ The year before
Prevalence of Severe Food Insecurity, 2019
124 countries
The year after ›
Prevalence of Severe Food Insecurity, 2021
136 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