World Hunger Is Falling for the Third Year in a Row

Good news is coming from a United Nations report released in July 2025: the number of people around the world who don't have enough food has dropped for the third year in a row. The report says 14 million fewer people were undernourished in 2025 compared to the year before. This is a big deal, especially since the world has been dealing with wars, rising prices, and other serious problems.

Even with this progress, the problem is still very large. About 645 million people — nearly 8 percent of everyone on Earth — still don't get enough food to eat. That number is also higher than it was before the COVID-19 pandemic, so there is still a lot of work to do.

The good news is not spread equally around the world. Asia and Latin America saw the biggest drops in hunger. But in Africa, the number of people who struggle to find enough food has barely changed at all. Experts say this shows that some regions need much more help than others.

The report predicts that hunger will keep falling through the end of the decade. However, it also warns that some things could slow that progress down. For example, wars in the Middle East have caused problems for energy markets and made it harder for farmers to get fertilizer, which is something they need to grow crops.

One of the most important findings is about food prices and people's ability to pay for food. Healthy food has gotten more expensive almost everywhere over the past ten years. But the share of people who can't afford it has actually gone down. That means people's incomes have been growing faster than food prices in many parts of the world.

Experts say economic growth is a big reason why more people can afford food. When economies grow, people tend to earn more money. New farming technology has also played a huge role. Scientists and farmers have come up with smarter ways to grow food, even as climate change and a growing world population create new challenges.

Better farming is also helping the environment. A study from Cornell University, published in January 2025, showed that the amount of carbon pollution released to produce each unit of food is going down. That means feeding the world is becoming both more efficient and cleaner for the planet.

The United Nations report makes clear that hunger is still a serious global problem, but the trend is moving in the right direction. Most experts agree that the best long-term solution is to support economic growth and freedom so that more people can afford to feed themselves and their families.