Hunger Stats by WFP

Every year, authors, journalists, teachers, researchers, schoolchildren and students ask us for statistics about hunger and malnutrition. To help answer these questions, we've compiled a database of useful facts and figures on world hunger.

MORE HUNGER STATS

• 925 million people do not have enough to eat  and 98 percent of them live in developing countries.(Source: FAO news release, 14 September 2010)
• Asia and the Pacific region is home to over half the world’s population and nearly two thirds of the world’s hungry people;
  (Source: FAO news release, 2010)
• Women make up a little over half of the world's population, but they account for over 60 percent of the world’s hungry.
  (Source:  Strengthening efforts to eradicate hunger..., ECOSOC, 2007)
• 65 percent  of the world's hungry live in only seven countries: India, China, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Pakistan and Ethiopia. 
  (Source: FAO news release, 2010)
  

• Undernutrition contributes to five million deaths of children under five each year in developing countries.
  (Source: Under five deaths by cause, UNICEF, 2006)
• One out of four children - roughly 146 million - in developing countries is underweight
  (Source: The State of the World's Children, UNICEF, 2007)
• More than 70 percent of the world's underweight children (aged five or less) live in just 10 countries, with more than 50 per cent located in South Asia alone; 
  (Source: Progress for Children: A Report Card on Nutrition, UNICEF, 2006)
• 10.9 million children under five die in developing countries each year. Malnutrition and hunger-related diseases cause 60 percent of the deaths;
  (Source: The State of the World's Children, UNICEF, 2007)
• Iron deficiency is the most prevalent form of malnutrition worldwide, affecting an estimated 2 billion people. Eradicating iron deficiency can improve national productivity levels by as much as 20 percent.
  (Source:  World Health Organization, WHO Global Database on Anaemia)
• Iodine deficiency is the greatest single cause of mental retardation and brain damage, affecting 1.9 billion people worldwide. It can easily be prevented by adding iodine to salt.
  (Source:  World Nutrition Situation 5th report ,UN Standing Committee on Nutrition2005)

source: World Food Programme