State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World (SOFI) 2025 Report

 State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World (SOFI) 2025 Report : Recently, the United Nations released the State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World (SOFI) 2025 report, revealing that 720 million people or 8.2% of the global population, were undernourished in 2024.

o This marks a slight improvement from 2023, when 8.5% of the world’s population faced undernourishment.

• Key Findings : 2.3 billion people experienced moderate or severe food insecurity, up 335 million from 2019 and 683 million from 2015.

  o Asia had the highest number of undernourished people at 323 million, followed by Africa (307 million), and Latin America & Caribbean (34 million).

  o Projections suggest that by 2030, 512 million people (6% of the global population) may still remain chronically undernourished.

  o By 2030: 60% of the world’s undernourished population will be in Africa.

  ü Undernourishment will fall below 5% in Asia, Latin America, and the Caribbean.

  • India-Specific Findings: 12% of India’s population (~172 million people) were undernourished in 2024 ,down from 243 million in 2006.

  o Largest number of undernourished people globally, mainly due to population size.

  o 18% of Indian children under five were wasted in 2024, the highest rate in the world

  o 37 million children under five were stunted, reflecting chronic undernutrition.

  o In 2023, anaemia affected 53% of Indian women in the 15–49 age group, impacting around 203 million women nationwide.

  o India ranks 4th globally and 1st in Asia in terms of anaemia prevalence among women.

  o 42% of India’s population could not afford a healthy diet in 2024.

  o Double burden of malnutrition is growing: Overweight children under five rose from 2.7 million (2012) to 4.2 million (2024).

  ü Obese adults doubled from 33 million to 71 million in a decade.