Data for 2023

Prevalence of Severe Food Insecurity, 2023

Name: Prevalence of Severe Food Insecurity, 2023
Creator: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)
License: https://www.fao.org/contact-us/terms/db-terms-of-use/en/

2023, as FAO’s 2026 release gives it · stored as published, never rewritten

Prevalence of Severe Food Insecurity, 2023 covers 125 countries on 6 measures. South Sudan is highest, at 63.1; Luxembourg is lowest, at 0.6. The middle country reads 4.7. Against 2022, 107 values changed (48 up, 59 down), 1 country joined, 16 left.

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Prevalence of Severe Food Insecurity · Data for 2023

HighestSouth Sudan

63.1

LowestLuxembourg

0.6

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

125countries
6measures per country
2023the year it describes
88distinct 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, 2023, 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 125 countries · select a heading to sort

Prevalence of Severe Food Insecurity, 2023: every country, as published by Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).
derived
1	South Sudan`SSD`Eastern Africa	63.1	61.5	64.7	63.1	63.1	7.2
2	Malawi`MWI`Eastern Africa	55.6	54.2	57.1	56.9	54.5	11.7
3	Haiti`HTI`Caribbean	44.1	40.6	47.6	46.5	41.7	5.1
4	DR Congo`COD`Middle Africa	42.5	40.3	44.7	42.4	42.6	45.0
5	Liberia`LBR`Western Africa	37.1	34.5	39.6	39.1	35.1	2.0
6	Sierra Leone`SLE`Western Africa	33.7	29.6	37.7	33.5	33.9	2.8
7	Afghanistan`AFG`Southern Asia	31.0	24.9	37.1	35.1	26.8	12.9
8	Namibia`NAM`Southern Africa	30.0	28.0	32.0	30.9	29.1	0.9
9	Kenya`KEN`Eastern Africa	28.1	27.0	29.1	28.7	27.4	15.5
10	Jamaica`JAM`Caribbean	27.8	24.2	31.3	24.1	31.4	0.8
11	Comoros`COM`Eastern Africa	27.4	21.5	33.3	28.1	26.7	0.2
12	Chad`TCD`Middle Africa	25.2	24.0	26.4	25.1	25.3	4.9
13	Zimbabwe`ZWE`Eastern Africa	25.1	21.3	28.9	25.8	24.3	4.1
=14	Cameroon`CMR`Middle Africa	24.7	21.2	28.1	24.7	24.6	7.0
=14	Lesotho`LSO`Southern Africa	24.7	23.1	26.2	25.7	23.7	0.6
16	Tanzania`TZA`Eastern Africa	24.4	22.6	26.1	24.2	24.5	16.2
17	Nigeria`NGA`Western Africa	24.3	22.8	25.7	24.4	24.2	55.3
18	Botswana`BWA`Southern Africa	23.3	20.6	25.9	24.6	21.9	0.6
19	Eswatini`SWZ`Southern Africa	22.2	18.9	25.4	23.3	21.1	0.3
20	Gambia`GMB`Western Africa	21.7	19.1	24.3	22.7	20.7	0.6
21	Guatemala`GTM`Central America	21.3	18.4	24.1	21.5	21.1	3.9
22	Burundi`BDI`Eastern Africa	20.9	19.6	22.3	21.6	20.2	2.9
23	Angola`AGO`Middle Africa	19.1	18.6	19.5	19.9	18.2	7.0
24	Ethiopia`ETH`Eastern Africa	19.0	15.8	22.2	19.3	18.7	24.5
25	Dominican Republic`DOM`Caribbean	17.9	16.4	19.4	20.4	15.4	2.0
=26	Libya`LBY`Northern Africa	17.2	14.4	20.0	14.9	19.4	1.3
=26	Zambia`ZMB`Eastern Africa	17.2	15.7	18.7	17.8	16.7	3.6
=28	El Salvador`SLV`Central America	15.4	13.0	17.7	17.7	13.0	1.0
=28	Honduras`HND`Central America	15.4	14.9	15.8	17.0	13.7	1.6
=28	Madagascar`MDG`Eastern Africa	15.4	14.3	16.4	15.7	15.1	4.8
31	Benin`BEN`Western Africa	15.0	13.5	16.4	15.0	14.9	2.1
32	Uganda`UGA`Eastern Africa	14.9	14.1	15.7	15.2	14.6	7.3
33	Mauritania`MRT`Western Africa	13.1	12.3	13.8	14.0	12.1	0.7
34	Nepal`NPL`Southern Asia	12.8	11.0	14.7	12.9	12.8	3.8
35	Argentina`ARG`South America	12.3	10.2	14.3	14.1	10.4	5.6
36	Mauritius`MUS`Eastern Africa	12.2	9.9	14.6	12.1	12.4	0.2
37	Egypt`EGY`Northern Africa	12.0	10.6	13.4	13.8	10.3	13.8
38	Ecuador`ECU`South America	11.9	9.0	14.7	13.0	10.8	2.1
39	Lebanon`LBN`Western Asia	10.1	8.4	11.7	10.4	9.7	0.6
40	Togo`TGO`Western Africa	9.9	8.2	11.7	9.7	10.2	0.8
41	Tunisia`TUN`Northern Africa	9.6	7.6	11.6	9.6	9.5	1.2
42	Ghana`GHA`Western Africa	9.4	8.8	10.0	9.8	9.0	3.2
=43	Albania`ALB`Southern Europe	8.4	6.6	10.2	9.4	7.4	0.2
=43	Côte d’Ivoire`CIV`Western Africa	8.4	7.6	9.3	8.6	8.3	2.6
=43	South Africa`ZAF`Southern Africa	8.4	7.7	9.1	8.6	8.2	5.3
46	Niger`NER`Western Africa	7.6	7.2	8.0	7.6	7.6	2.0
47	Burkina Faso`BFA`Western Africa	7.3	6.1	8.6	7.3	7.4	1.7
48	Myanmar`MMR`South-eastern Asia	7.2	5.7	8.8	7.2	7.2	3.9
49	Romania`ROU`Eastern Europe	7.0	5.4	8.7	7.8	6.2	1.3
=50	Palau`PLW`Micronesia	6.9	3.6	10.2	6.9	6.9	—
=50	Trinidad and Tobago`TTO`Caribbean	6.9	6.4	7.4	7.0	6.8	0.1
52	Georgia`GEO`Western Asia	6.2	4.8	7.5	6.2	6.1	0.2
53	Cabo Verde`CPV`Western Africa	6.1	5.0	7.3	6.1	6.1	—
54	Iran`IRN`Southern Asia	5.9	4.7	7.1	5.9	5.8	5.3
=55	Kiribati`KIR`Micronesia	5.8	4.2	7.5	5.8	5.8	—
=55	Malaysia`MYS`South-eastern Asia	5.8	4.6	6.9	4.9	6.7	2.0
=57	Laos`LAO`South-eastern Asia	5.6	4.2	7.0	5.5	5.6	0.4
=57	Tajikistan`TJK`Central Asia	5.6	3.9	7.4	6.3	4.9	0.6
59	Moldova`MDA`Eastern Europe	5.4	3.8	7.0	6.5	4.3	0.2
60	Ukraine`UKR`Eastern Europe	5.3	4.0	6.6	5.5	5.1	2.1
61	Colombia`COL`South America	5.2	4.9	5.6	5.7	4.7	2.7
62	Algeria`DZA`Northern Africa	4.9	2.1	7.8	4.3	5.6	2.3
=63	Grenada`GRD`Caribbean	4.7	1.9	7.6	4.7	4.7	—
=63	Guyana`GUY`South America	4.7	4.1	5.3	4.7	4.7	—
=63	Pakistan`PAK`Southern Asia	4.7	4.5	4.9	6.9	2.5	11.6
=66	Hungary`HUN`Eastern Europe	4.5	2.8	6.1	4.8	4.2	0.4
=66	Samoa`WSM`Polynesia	4.5	3.6	5.3	4.5	4.5	—
68	New Zealand`NZL`Australia and New Zealand	4.3	3.6	5.0	4.0	4.6	0.2
69	Bolivia`BOL`South America	4.2	3.7	4.6	4.7	3.7	0.5
=70	Peru`PER`South America	4.0	3.7	4.3	4.8	3.2	1.3
=70	Senegal`SEN`Western Africa	4.0	2.9	5.1	4.2	3.7	0.7
72	Australia`AUS`Australia and New Zealand	3.7	2.9	4.6	3.7	3.8	1.0
73	Cambodia`KHM`South-eastern Asia	3.6	2.7	4.6	4.2	3.0	0.6
=74	Chile`CHL`South America	3.5	3.3	3.6	3.5	3.4	0.7
=74	Singapore`SGP`South-eastern Asia	3.5	2.6	4.3	2.6	4.3	0.2
=76	Antigua and Barbuda`ATG`Caribbean	3.4	2.9	3.9	3.3	3.5	—
=76	Kuwait`KWT`Western Asia	3.4	2.6	4.2	2.6	4.2	0.2
=76	North Macedonia`MKD`Southern Europe	3.4	2.3	4.4	4.2	2.6	—
79	United Kingdom`GBR`Northern Europe	3.3	2.3	4.3	2.9	3.7	2.3
80	Belize`BLZ`Central America	3.2	2.1	4.3	3.2	3.2	—
=81	Brazil`BRA`South America	3.1	3.0	3.2	3.6	2.6	6.6
=81	Portugal`PRT`Southern Europe	3.1	1.6	4.6	3.5	2.7	0.3
83	Philippines`PHL`South-eastern Asia	3.0	2.5	3.4	2.9	3.0	3.4
84	Finland`FIN`Northern Europe	2.9	1.0	4.9	2.6	3.3	0.2
85	Mexico`MEX`Central America	2.8	2.6	3.0	3.3	2.3	3.6
=86	Costa Rica`CRI`Central America	2.7	2.4	3.0	3.0	2.3	0.1
=86	France`FRA`Western Europe	2.7	2.0	3.3	2.8	2.6	1.8
=86	Netherlands`NLD`Western Europe	2.7	1.7	3.7	3.2	2.2	0.5
=86	Uruguay`URY`South America	2.7	2.2	3.2	3.1	2.3	—
90	Mali`MLI`Western Africa	2.6	1.9	3.3	2.6	2.6	0.6
91	Sweden`SWE`Northern Europe	2.5	1.4	3.7	2.2	2.9	0.3
=92	Belgium`BEL`Western Europe	2.4	1.1	3.7	2.7	2.1	0.3
=92	Denmark`DNK`Northern Europe	2.4	1.3	3.4	2.0	2.7	0.1
94	Vietnam`VNM`South-eastern Asia	2.2	1.5	3.0	2.6	1.9	2.3
=95	Iceland`ISL`Northern Europe	2.1	1.1	3.2	2.7	1.6	—
=95	Ireland`IRL`Northern Europe	2.1	1.3	3.0	1.6	2.7	0.1
=95	Malta`MLT`Southern Europe	2.1	1.6	2.6	2.2	2.0	—
98	Bulgaria`BGR`Eastern Europe	2.0	1.1	2.8	2.3	1.6	0.1
=99	Bosnia and Herzegovina`BIH`Southern Europe	1.9	1.1	2.7	2.4	1.3	—
=99	Canada`CAN`Northern America	1.9	1.8	1.9	2.2	1.6	0.7
=99	Latvia`LVA`Northern Europe	1.9	0.9	2.9	2.1	1.7	—
102	Czechia`CZE`Eastern Europe	1.8	1.1	2.5	2.0	1.6	0.2
=103	Montenegro`MNE`Southern Europe	1.6	0.7	2.6	1.9	1.3	—
=103	Norway`NOR`Northern Europe	1.6	1.0	2.1	1.2	1.9	—
=105	Austria`AUT`Western Europe	1.5	0.8	2.2	1.3	1.7	0.1
=105	Greece`GRC`Southern Europe	1.5	1.1	1.9	1.7	1.3	0.2
=105	Serbia`SRB`Southern Europe	1.5	0.8	2.3	1.6	1.5	0.1
=108	Slovakia`SVK`Eastern Europe	1.4	0.8	2.0	1.6	1.2	—
=108	Spain`ESP`Southern Europe	1.4	0.7	2.1	1.8	1.1	0.7
110	Azerbaijan`AZE`Western Asia	1.3	1.1	1.4	1.4	1.1	0.1
=111	Germany`DEU`Western Europe	1.2	—	2.1	0.7	1.7	1.0
=111	Lithuania`LTU`Northern Europe	1.2	0.5	2.0	1.5	1.0	—
=113	Estonia`EST`Northern Europe	1.1	—	1.8	1.1	1.2	—
=113	Japan`JPN`Eastern Asia	1.1	0.5	1.6	0.5	1.6	1.3
=113	South Korea`KOR`Eastern Asia	1.1	—	1.6	0.7	1.4	0.6
=113	Sri Lanka`LKA`Southern Asia	1.1	1.0	1.2	1.2	1.1	0.3
=113	Switzerland`CHE`Western Europe	1.1	0.6	1.7	0.8	1.4	—
=118	Croatia`HRV`Southern Europe	1.0	—	1.8	1.0	1.1	—
=118	United States`USA`Northern America	1.0	0.9	1.1	1.2	0.7	3.4
=120	Israel`ISR`Western Asia	0.9	—	1.4	0.9	0.9	—
=120	Slovenia`SVN`Southern Europe	0.9	—	1.4	1.1	0.7	—
=120	United Arab Emirates`ARE`Western Asia	0.9	—	1.5	0.7	1.1	—
123	Thailand`THA`South-eastern Asia	0.8	0.6	1.0	0.9	0.8	0.6
124	Mongolia`MNG`Eastern Asia	0.7	—	0.9	0.7	0.7	—
125	Luxembourg`LUX`Western Europe	0.6	—	1.0	—	0.7	—

02In 2023

At either end

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

Highest

1South Sudan63.1
2Malawi55.6
3Haiti44.1
4DR Congo42.5
5Liberia37.1

Lowest

125Luxembourg0.6
124Mongolia0.7
123Thailand0.8
120Sloveniashared0.9
120Israelshared0.9

A higher value is the worse result. The middle country reads 4.7. “Shared” marks a value another country also holds.

Each measure’s ends

90% confidence interval, lower bound (%)
HighestSouth Sudan61.5
Lowest2 share it
Middle country: 4.2
90% confidence interval, upper bound (%)
HighestSouth Sudan64.7
LowestMongolia0.9
Middle country: 6.1
Women aged 15 and over (%)
HighestSouth Sudan63.1
LowestJapan0.5
Middle country: 4.9
Men aged 15 and over (%)
HighestSouth Sudan63.1
Lowest4 share it
Middle country: 4.7
People in severe food insecurity (millions)
HighestNigeria55.3
Lowest8 share it
Middle country: 1.3

032022 → 2023

Since 2022

What changed between 2022 and this one: who joined or left, and how far the headline moved.

+1 / −16countries joined / left
107values changed, of 124 in both
48 · 59rose · fell
17unchanged

Rose most

Eswatini18.6 → 22.2+3.6
Madagascar13.2 → 15.4+2.2
Malawi53.5 → 55.6+2.1
Mauritius10.2 → 12.2+2.0
Haiti42.4 → 44.1+1.7

Fell most

Angola23.3 → 19.1−4.2
Gambia25.5 → 21.7−3.8
Brazil6.6 → 3.1−3.5
Botswana26.6 → 23.3−3.3
Uganda17.7 → 14.9−2.8

+ United Arab Emirates

− Bahamas

− Barbados

− Central African Republic

− Djibouti

− Dominica

− Fiji

− Guinea-Bissau

− Kazakhstan

− Kyrgyzstan

− Maldives

− Nauru

− Poland

− Paraguay

− São Tomé and Príncipe

− Suriname

− Tonga

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 2023.
88 distinct values among 125
Values are stored exactly as published, to 1 decimal. 5 countries share 1.1. Countries sharing a value share a position too.
The position is ours
FAO publishes values only; the order is this site’s.
36 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
125 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-2023-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) (2023). Prevalence of Severe Food Insecurity, 2023 [data set], describing 2023. As held by Nations Inquiry, https://nationsinquiry.com/datasets/severe-food-insecurity/2023

0610 held

Other years

‹ The year before
Prevalence of Severe Food Insecurity, 2022
140 countries
The year after ›
Prevalence of Severe Food Insecurity, 2024
125 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