Africa now has more hungry people than Asia
Undernourished people, millions, FAO estimates, 2000–2025; figures from 2020 on are based on projected values.
- 1. By 2100, more than 1 in 3 people will be African
- 2. Nearly half the world's under-25s will be African by 2100
- 3. DR Congo is projected to outgrow the US by 2100
- 4. Kinshasa will soon be bigger than Paris and London combined
- 5. Two-thirds of the world's mobile money moves in Africa
- 6. Volcanic heat makes nearly 45% of the power Kenya generates
- 7. Africa's solar imports more than doubled since early 2024
- 8. DR Congo mines three-quarters of the world's cobalt
- 9. Nearly two in three people in Africa are still offline
- 10. Africa formally recycles less than 1% of its e-waste
- 11. Ethiopia added over a third of Africa's new renewable power
- 12. DR Congo now has more children than Brazil
- 13. Nigeria's cities now hold more people than Japan's
- 14. Sudan now has the world's most people displaced at home
- 15. Nigeria now has almost 25 million more people than Brazil
- 16. Six of the ten fastest-growing big cities are African
- 17. Africa now has more hungry people than Asia
- 18. Six in ten child deaths now happen in sub-Saharan Africa
- 19. Rwanda spread electricity faster than any country since 2014
Undernourished people in Africa in 2025, FAO estimate, against 292 million in Asia.
Rise in Africa's hungry since 2000, from 184 million. Asia's number fell 46%, from 536 million.
Africa's share of the world's 645 million hungry people in 2025, up from 23% in 2000.
the numbers & method
| Year | Africa (m) | Asia (m) | Latin America (m) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 184 | 536 | 54 |
| 2001 | 182 | 562 | 53 |
| 2002 | 183 | 583 | 56 |
| 2003 | 185 | 578 | 52 |
| 2004 | 185 | 578 | 51 |
| 2005 | 178 | 558 | 47 |
| 2006 | 174 | 508 | 44 |
| 2007 | 172 | 451 | 41 |
| 2008 | 170 | 420 | 39 |
| 2009 | 167 | 412 | 37 |
| 2010 | 171 | 396 | 35 |
| 2011 | 174 | 368 | 34 |
| 2012 | 179 | 370 | 33 |
| 2013 | 183 | 335 | 32 |
| 2014 | 185 | 323 | 30 |
| 2015 | 196 | 359 | 31 |
| 2016 | 214 | 318 | 37 |
| 2017 | 214 | 290 | 35 |
| 2018 | 223 | 301 | 37 |
| 2019 | 236 | 304 | 35 |
| 2020 | 253 | 362 | 40 |
| 2021 | 266 | 372 | 38 |
| 2022 | 276 | 364 | 37 |
| 2023 | 297 | 343 | 36 |
| 2024 | 307 | 308 | 33 |
| 2025 | 309 | 292 | 32 |
Claim types Estimate
Series SN_ITK_DEFCN 'Number of undernourished people (millions)', source FAO (The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World estimates), SDG regional groupings: Africa (M49 2), Asia (142), Latin America and the Caribbean (419), World (1). Read from the UN SDG Global Database API (release 2026.Q3.G.01) on 4 Nov 2026. Every value carries observation status 'E' (estimate); values for 2020–2025 carry the UN footnote 'Estimates are based on projected values' (FAO nowcasts). Africa vs Asia, millions: 2023 297.2 vs 342.7; 2024 307.3 vs 307.6; 2025 309.2 vs 291.8, so the crossing is in the 2025 estimate. World: 791.0 (2000), 644.6 (2025). Changes and shares are progrss calculations: Africa 309.2/183.7 = +68%; Asia 291.8/535.5 = −46%; Africa's share 309.2/644.6 = 48.0% (2025) and 183.7/791.0 = 23.2% (2000). FAO revises the whole series with each edition, so past values may differ from earlier reports. Licence for commercial reuse not confirmed, so this plate is not sold. In 2024 the two were level (307.3 vs 307.6 million); Africa, Asia and Latin America together make 633.1 of the world's 644.6 million in 2025, the rest being Oceania, Europe and North America.
Published 4 Nov 2026
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