2.6 Billion People Could Not Afford a Healthy Diet Last Year

Climate change is not only affecting how food is grown, but also who can afford it. Credit: Tim Samuel, Pexel. 

More than 2.6 billion people (~1 in 3 people globally), could not afford a healthy diet in 2025, according to the United Nations’ State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2026 report. Although global food affordability has improved slightly since the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, the world remains far from ending hunger and malnutrition. An estimated 673 million people (8.2% of the global population) experienced hunger in 2025, while healthy food remains unaffordable for millions of families across low-income countries. 

The report warns that rising food prices, economic inequality, conflict, and increasingly frequent climate extremes are making it harder for people to access nutritious food. Climate-related disasters, including droughts, floods, heatwaves, and changing rainfall patterns, are disrupting food production, reducing crop yields, and increasing food prices. This places growing pressure on households already struggling with the cost of living. 

Key Facts: 

• In 2025, 2.69 billion people (32.7% of the global population) could not afford a healthy diet.  
• The minimum cost of a healthy diet reached PPP US$4.28 per person per day (2025), making nutritious food unaffordable for many households.  
• In 2025, 645 million people (7.8% of the global population) experienced hunger. This was the third consecutive annual decline, but the world remains off track to end hunger by 2030. 
• 2.3 billion people in 2025experienced moderate or severe food insecurity, meaning they lacked regular access to enough safe and nutritious food.  
• In 2025, 66.1% of people in Africa could not afford a healthy diet, while 56.6% experienced moderate or severe food insecurity.  
• In 2024, nearly one in three children aged 6–23 months did not receive the minimum dietary diversity needed for healthy growth. 

Why is this becoming a growing global challenge? 

The food we rely on the planet for is under threat – overheating is disrupting the very conditions it needs to grow.

Droughts, floods, heatwaves, storms, and shifting rainfall patterns are already damaging crops, reducing agricultural productivity, disrupting supply chains, and contributing to rising food prices. These pressures are adding to existing challenges such as conflict, economic instability, and poverty, making nutritious food harder to afford for millions of people. 

These impacts are already being felt by millions of people, as shown by the evidence from the Climate-Driven Agricultural Decline Index (CADI). In fact, climate change has reduced agricultural productivity across large regions. Additionally, more than 640 million people currently live in agricultural regions where the maximum number of people that can be fed has declined by more than 10% compared with conditions three decades ago. Lastly, around 16% of global cropland has experienced productivity losses of at least 10%, with rainfed agriculture among the most exposed due to its dependence on increasingly variable rainfall. 

Rapid changes in the Arctic add another layer of risk to an already stressed climate system. The Arctic is warming nearly four times faster than the global average, and changes in sea ice, snow cover, and permafrost can influence weather patterns far beyond the polar region. These connections are complex, but growing evidence suggests that rapid polar change may contribute to disruptions in weather patterns linked to heatwaves, droughts, and heavy rainfall that affect agriculture and food security.  

What does this mean for people? 

Human Health Impacts:

• Diets poor in nutrients are one of the leading drivers of malnutrition and increase the risk of illness throughout life. 
• People who cannot afford nutritious food are more likely to experience undernutrition, micronutrient deficiencies, weakened immune systems, and poorer maternal and child health. 
• Poor nutrition during pregnancy and early childhood can affect physical growth, cognitive development, educational achievement, and lifelong health. 
• Food insecurity can also contribute to anxiety, financial stress, and worsening mental health for households facing rising food costs. 

Economic and Social Impacts: 

• Higher food prices place additional financial pressure on households, especially low-income families that already spend a large share of their income on food. 
• Reduced agricultural production affects farmers’ livelihoods, national economies, and food supply chains. 
• Persistent food insecurity can increase inequality, reduce workforce productivity, and place additional strain on healthcare and social protection systems. 

The Urgent Response Needed 

What Needs to Change: 

• Reduce carbon pollution, driving the overheating of the planet, and increasing climate extremes that threaten food production.  
• Invest in climate-resilient agriculture, sustainable food systems, and stronger support for farmers facing increasing climate risks (for example, drought-resistant crops, water-saving irrigation, climate information services, and financial support after extreme weather events). Check out the ‘Introduction to climate-smart agriculture’ course offered by the FAO. 
• Improve access to affordable, nutritious food through stronger social protection programmes and targeted nutrition policies.  
• Strengthen early warning systems and climate information services that help farmers prepare for droughts, floods, and other extreme weather.  
• Build more resilient food supply chains that can better withstand climate shocks and economic disruptions. 

What YOU can do:  

• If it is affordable for you, choose healthy and locally produced foods when they are available. 
• Reduce household food waste by planning meals, storing food carefully, and sharing food with friends/family/neighbours that you cannot consume in time.  
• Stay informed about how extreme weather is affecting food production and food prices in your region. Check out: Agricultural Market Information System (AMIS) and Global Information and Early Warning System on Food and Agriculture (GIEWS).
• Support policies and initiatives that strengthen food security, improve nutrition, and help communities adapt to an overheating planet. See some examples implemented in Ethiopia, Brazil, the EU, and Bangladesh.  

Read more: Food Insecurity | Health risks | Climate Risks Daily 

Original source: https://openknowledge.fao.org/items/7eb22402-860f-4212-922f-55941aed4a27