Data for 2021

Prevalence of Severe Food Insecurity, 2021

Name: Prevalence of Severe Food Insecurity, 2021
Creator: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)
License: https://www.fao.org/contact-us/terms/db-terms-of-use/en/

2021, as FAO’s 2026 release gives it · stored as published, never rewritten

Prevalence of Severe Food Insecurity, 2021 covers 136 countries on 6 measures. South Sudan is highest, at 63.2; Kazakhstan is lowest, at 0.5. The middle country reads 5.7. Against 2020, 113 values changed (76 up, 37 down), 5 countries joined, 2 left.

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Prevalence of Severe Food Insecurity · Data for 2021

HighestSouth Sudan

63.2

LowestKazakhstan

0.5

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

136countries
6measures per country
2021the year it describes
103distinct 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, 2021, 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 136 countries · select a heading to sort

Prevalence of Severe Food Insecurity, 2021: every country, as published by Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).
derived
1	South Sudan`SSD`Eastern Africa	63.2	61.7	64.7	63.2	63.2	6.9
2	Central African Republic`CAF`Middle Africa	56.3	54.1	58.5	56.3	56.3	2.9
3	Malawi`MWI`Eastern Africa	52.2	50.7	53.7	53.8	50.5	10.5
4	Haiti`HTI`Caribbean	42.9	38.2	47.6	44.2	41.6	4.9
5	DR Congo`COD`Middle Africa	40.3	38.0	42.6	38.9	41.6	39.9
6	Liberia`LBR`Western Africa	37.5	34.2	40.9	40.5	34.6	2.0
7	Namibia`NAM`Southern Africa	33.0	31.0	34.9	34.3	31.7	0.9
8	Sierra Leone`SLE`Western Africa	31.9	27.8	35.9	31.7	32.0	2.6
9	Zimbabwe`ZWE`Eastern Africa	28.6	24.8	32.4	30.2	27.0	4.5
10	Afghanistan`AFG`Southern Asia	28.4	24.2	32.5	33.3	23.4	11.3
11	Chad`TCD`Middle Africa	28.3	26.4	30.1	27.9	28.6	5.0
12	Kenya`KEN`Eastern Africa	28.0	27.0	29.0	29.7	26.3	14.9
13	Comoros`COM`Eastern Africa	27.4	21.5	33.3	28.4	26.4	0.2
14	Gambia`GMB`Western Africa	27.0	24.4	29.5	27.0	26.9	0.7
=15	Botswana`BWA`Southern Africa	26.7	23.5	29.9	28.8	24.6	0.6
=15	Cameroon`CMR`Middle Africa	26.7	23.5	29.9	25.6	27.8	7.2
17	Tanzania`TZA`Eastern Africa	26.3	24.6	28.0	26.4	26.2	16.5
18	Lesotho`LSO`Southern Africa	25.8	24.2	27.4	25.7	26.0	0.6
19	Jamaica`JAM`Caribbean	25.6	22.1	29.1	27.1	24.2	0.7
20	Angola`AGO`Middle Africa	25.3	24.7	25.9	26.5	24.2	8.7
21	Dominican Republic`DOM`Caribbean	22.0	20.1	23.9	23.1	20.8	2.4
22	Nigeria`NGA`Western Africa	21.3	19.3	23.2	21.5	21.0	46.5
23	Libya`LBY`Northern Africa	21.2	18.5	24.0	24.9	17.5	1.5
24	Ethiopia`ETH`Eastern Africa	21.1	17.8	24.3	21.2	20.9	25.7
25	Uganda`UGA`Eastern Africa	20.7	19.3	22.2	20.1	21.3	9.5
26	Guatemala`GTM`Central America	20.3	18.2	22.4	22.9	17.6	3.6
27	Zambia`ZMB`Eastern Africa	19.7	17.9	21.5	19.6	19.9	3.9
28	Djibouti`DJI`Eastern Africa	16.5	12.4	20.6	15.4	17.6	0.2
29	El Salvador`SLV`Central America	16.2	14.0	18.3	18.6	13.7	1.0
30	Eswatini`SWZ`Southern Africa	15.6	13.0	18.2	15.1	16.2	0.2
31	Honduras`HND`Central America	15.5	15.2	15.8	15.9	15.1	1.6
32	Benin`BEN`Western Africa	15.4	14.0	16.8	15.8	15.0	2.1
33	São Tomé and Príncipe`STP`Middle Africa	14.1	11.5	16.8	14.4	13.8	—
34	Nepal`NPL`Southern Asia	13.2	11.4	15.1	12.7	13.8	3.9
35	Argentina`ARG`South America	13.1	10.8	15.4	16.2	10.1	5.9
36	Ecuador`ECU`South America	13.0	10.2	15.9	15.1	10.9	2.3
37	Togo`TGO`Western Africa	12.8	11.1	14.5	11.6	13.9	1.0
=38	Lebanon`LBN`Western Asia	12.6	11.0	14.2	13.3	11.9	0.7
=38	Tunisia`TUN`Northern Africa	12.6	10.5	14.8	11.9	13.4	1.5
40	Madagascar`MDG`Eastern Africa	11.4	10.2	12.7	12.6	10.3	3.4
41	Mauritius`MUS`Eastern Africa	10.5	8.4	12.6	11.5	9.5	0.1
42	Georgia`GEO`Western Asia	9.7	8.2	11.2	10.2	9.2	0.4
43	Mauritania`MRT`Western Africa	9.5	8.7	10.2	9.6	9.4	0.4
44	Côte d’Ivoire`CIV`Western Africa	9.4	8.5	10.3	9.5	9.3	2.8
45	Nauru`NRU`Micronesia	9.2	6.9	11.5	9.2	9.2	—
=46	Guinea-Bissau`GNB`Western Africa	8.9	7.5	10.3	8.9	8.9	0.2
=46	Timor-Leste`TLS`South-eastern Asia	8.9	8.0	9.8	8.9	8.9	0.1
48	Egypt`EGY`Northern Africa	8.8	7.5	10.2	9.8	7.9	9.8
49	Brazil`BRA`South America	8.5	8.4	8.7	9.9	7.2	17.9
50	South Africa`ZAF`Southern Africa	8.4	7.7	9.1	9.1	7.7	5.2
51	Tajikistan`TJK`Central Asia	8.3	6.4	10.1	9.0	7.6	0.8
52	Kiribati`KIR`Micronesia	8.0	5.9	10.1	8.0	8.0	—
53	Niger`NER`Western Africa	7.7	7.0	8.5	8.0	7.5	1.9
54	Albania`ALB`Southern Europe	7.5	5.9	9.0	9.2	5.8	0.2
=55	Barbados`BRB`Caribbean	7.4	5.1	9.7	8.0	6.8	—
=55	Iran`IRN`Southern Asia	7.4	6.2	8.6	7.7	7.1	6.5
=57	Laos`LAO`South-eastern Asia	7.2	5.6	8.9	7.8	6.7	0.5
=57	Suriname`SUR`South America	7.2	4.9	9.5	8.2	6.2	—
59	Burkina Faso`BFA`Western Africa	7.1	5.5	8.7	6.4	7.8	1.6
60	Ghana`GHA`Western Africa	7.0	6.3	7.7	7.3	6.8	2.3
61	North Macedonia`MKD`Southern Europe	6.9	5.5	8.2	7.3	6.4	0.1
62	Grenada`GRD`Caribbean	6.5	2.4	10.5	6.5	6.5	—
63	Fiji`FJI`Melanesia	6.3	3.8	8.9	6.4	6.3	—
=64	Cabo Verde`CPV`Western Africa	6.1	4.6	7.5	6.1	6.1	—
=64	Paraguay`PRY`South America	6.1	4.6	7.6	6.0	6.2	0.4
66	Malaysia`MYS`South-eastern Asia	6.0	4.8	7.2	4.5	7.5	2.1
67	Dominica`DMA`Caribbean	5.8	4.2	7.5	5.8	5.8	—
68	Romania`ROU`Eastern Europe	5.7	4.4	6.9	6.0	5.4	1.1
69	Algeria`DZA`Northern Africa	5.6	3.3	7.9	4.3	6.9	2.5
70	Pakistan`PAK`Southern Asia	5.4	5.3	5.5	7.0	3.8	13.0
71	Colombia`COL`South America	5.3	5.0	5.5	5.7	4.8	2.7
72	Myanmar`MMR`South-eastern Asia	5.0	4.0	6.0	5.9	4.2	2.7
73	Moldova`MDA`Eastern Europe	4.8	3.8	5.8	5.1	4.6	0.1
74	Guyana`GUY`South America	4.7	4.1	5.3	4.7	4.7	—
=75	Cambodia`KHM`South-eastern Asia	4.5	3.5	5.4	5.2	3.8	0.8
=75	Kuwait`KWT`Western Asia	4.5	3.5	5.6	3.6	5.5	0.2
=75	Senegal`SEN`Western Africa	4.5	3.3	5.6	4.4	4.6	0.8
78	Ukraine`UKR`Eastern Europe	4.3	3.2	5.4	4.0	4.6	1.9
=79	Samoa`WSM`Polynesia	4.1	3.0	5.2	4.1	4.1	—
=79	Serbia`SRB`Southern Europe	4.1	2.9	5.4	4.3	4.0	0.4
=81	Belize`BLZ`Central America	4.0	3.1	4.9	4.0	4.0	—
=81	Peru`PER`South America	4.0	3.8	4.3	4.7	3.4	1.3
83	Portugal`PRT`Southern Europe	3.9	2.5	5.3	3.5	4.2	0.4
84	Tonga`TON`Polynesia	3.7	2.1	5.3	3.7	3.7	—
85	Chile`CHL`South America	3.6	3.1	4.1	4.0	3.2	0.7
86	Bulgaria`BGR`Eastern Europe	3.5	2.2	4.7	3.9	3.1	0.2
=87	Antigua and Barbuda`ATG`Caribbean	3.4	2.9	3.9	3.3	3.5	—
=87	Australia`AUS`Australia and New Zealand	3.4	2.6	4.3	3.0	3.8	0.9
=87	Bahamas`BHS`Caribbean	3.4	1.8	5.0	3.3	3.6	—
=90	Bolivia`BOL`South America	3.3	2.9	3.7	3.5	3.1	0.4
=90	Montenegro`MNE`Southern Europe	3.3	2.1	4.5	2.8	3.8	—
=90	New Zealand`NZL`Australia and New Zealand	3.3	2.4	4.3	2.7	4.0	0.2
=93	Mexico`MEX`Central America	3.2	2.9	3.6	3.9	2.5	4.1
=93	Philippines`PHL`South-eastern Asia	3.2	2.8	3.7	3.1	3.3	3.7
95	Bosnia and Herzegovina`BIH`Southern Europe	3.1	2.2	4.1	3.4	2.9	0.1
96	Hungary`HUN`Eastern Europe	3.0	1.9	4.1	3.5	2.5	0.3
=97	Costa Rica`CRI`Central America	2.9	2.6	3.2	3.2	2.6	0.1
=97	Uruguay`URY`South America	2.9	2.5	3.3	3.4	2.4	—
99	Mali`MLI`Western Africa	2.7	0.9	4.5	2.8	2.7	0.6
100	Finland`FIN`Northern Europe	2.6	1.2	4.0	2.8	2.3	0.1
101	Ireland`IRL`Northern Europe	2.4	1.7	3.1	1.8	3.0	0.1
102	Czechia`CZE`Eastern Europe	2.3	1.6	3.0	2.0	2.6	0.2
103	Maldives`MDV`Southern Asia	2.2	1.1	3.4	1.8	2.7	—
104	Lithuania`LTU`Northern Europe	2.1	1.2	2.9	2.2	1.9	—
=105	Croatia`HRV`Southern Europe	1.9	1.2	2.5	2.2	1.5	—
=105	Malta`MLT`Southern Europe	1.9	1.3	2.6	2.3	1.5	—
=107	Denmark`DNK`Northern Europe	1.8	0.9	2.7	1.9	1.8	0.1
=107	Slovakia`SVK`Eastern Europe	1.8	1.2	2.4	2.2	1.4	—
=107	Spain`ESP`Southern Europe	1.8	1.0	2.5	1.8	1.7	0.8
110	Singapore`SGP`South-eastern Asia	1.7	1.5	2.0	1.5	2.0	—
=111	Austria`AUT`Western Europe	1.6	0.8	2.3	1.4	1.7	0.1
=111	France`FRA`Western Europe	1.6	1.0	2.1	1.6	1.5	1.0
=111	Iceland`ISL`Northern Europe	1.6	0.7	2.5	1.9	1.3	—
=111	United Kingdom`GBR`Northern Europe	1.6	1.1	2.2	1.9	1.4	1.1
=115	Belgium`BEL`Western Europe	1.5	0.7	2.3	1.5	1.6	0.2
=115	Greece`GRC`Southern Europe	1.5	0.9	2.2	1.7	1.3	0.2
=117	Germany`DEU`Western Europe	1.4	0.6	2.2	1.2	1.6	1.2
=117	Netherlands`NLD`Western Europe	1.4	0.7	2.2	1.6	1.2	0.3
=117	Sweden`SWE`Northern Europe	1.4	0.6	2.2	1.3	1.4	0.1
120	Thailand`THA`South-eastern Asia	1.3	1.1	1.5	1.4	1.1	0.9
=121	Canada`CAN`Northern America	1.2	1.2	1.3	1.5	1.0	0.5
=121	Norway`NOR`Northern Europe	1.2	0.9	1.5	0.7	1.7	—
=121	Sri Lanka`LKA`Southern Asia	1.2	1.1	1.3	1.2	1.2	0.3
=121	Vietnam`VNM`South-eastern Asia	1.2	0.9	1.5	1.4	1.0	1.2
125	Kyrgyzstan`KGZ`Central Asia	1.1	1.1	1.1	1.1	1.0	—
=126	Israel`ISR`Western Asia	1.0	—	1.5	0.7	1.2	—
=126	Latvia`LVA`Northern Europe	1.0	—	1.5	1.1	0.8	—
=126	Poland`POL`Eastern Europe	1.0	—	1.5	1.1	0.9	0.4
=129	Japan`JPN`Eastern Asia	0.9	—	1.4	0.6	1.3	1.2
=129	Slovenia`SVN`Southern Europe	0.9	—	1.4	1.4	—	—
131	South Korea`KOR`Eastern Asia	0.8	—	1.2	0.6	0.9	0.4
=132	Estonia`EST`Northern Europe	0.7	—	1.3	0.8	0.7	—
=132	United States`USA`Northern America	0.7	0.6	0.8	0.9	0.6	2.5
=134	Luxembourg`LUX`Western Europe	0.6	—	1.1	0.5	0.7	—
=134	Switzerland`CHE`Western Europe	0.6	—	1.0	0.6	0.7	—
136	Kazakhstan`KAZ`Central Asia	0.5	—	0.8	0.6	—	0.1

02In 2021

At either end

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

Highest

Lowest

136Kazakhstan0.5
134Luxembourgshared0.6
134Switzerlandshared0.6
132United Statesshared0.7
132Estoniashared0.7

A higher value is the worse result. The middle country reads 5.7. “Shared” marks a value another country also holds.

Each measure’s ends

90% confidence interval, lower bound (%)
HighestSouth Sudan61.7
Lowest3 share it
Middle country: 4.9
90% confidence interval, upper bound (%)
HighestSouth Sudan64.7
Lowest2 share it
Middle country: 7.1
Women aged 15 and over (%)
HighestSouth Sudan63.2
LowestLuxembourg0.5
Middle country: 5.9
Men aged 15 and over (%)
HighestSouth Sudan63.2
LowestUnited States0.6
Middle country: 5.8
People in severe food insecurity (millions)
HighestNigeria46.5
Lowest12 share it
Middle country: 1.0

032020 → 2021

Since 2020

What changed between 2020 and this one: who joined or left, and how far the headline moved.

+5 / −2countries joined / left
113values changed, of 131 in both
76 · 37rose · fell
18unchanged

Rose most

Afghanistan22.6 → 28.4+5.8
Jamaica23.1 → 25.6+2.5
Lebanon10.2 → 12.6+2.4
Mauritania7.2 → 9.5+2.3
Brazil6.3 → 8.5+2.2

Fell most

Chad32.7 → 28.3−4.4
Angola28.1 → 25.3−2.8
Zambia22.4 → 19.7−2.7
Zimbabwe31.3 → 28.6−2.7
Haiti45.2 → 42.9−2.3

+ Antigua and Barbuda

+ Bolivia

+ Switzerland

+ Guyana

+ Kazakhstan

− Saint Kitts and Nevis

− Vanuatu

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 2021.
103 distinct values among 136
Values are stored exactly as published, to 1 decimal. 4 countries share 1.6. 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
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136 rows · 6.4 KB · UTF-8, opens in Excel
Opens with 11 lines of source notes; the table starts on row 13.
Download severe-food-insecurity-2021-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) (2021). Prevalence of Severe Food Insecurity, 2021 [data set], describing 2021. As held by Nations Inquiry, https://nationsinquiry.com/datasets/severe-food-insecurity/2021

0610 held

Other years

‹ The year before
Prevalence of Severe Food Insecurity, 2020
133 countries
The year after ›
Prevalence of Severe Food Insecurity, 2022
140 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