New Global Hunger Index: Pakistan Tops South Asia in Severe Hunger and Food Insecurity

Driven by economic stagnation, climate-induced shocks, and global conflicts, severe food insecurity and nutritional crisis have worsened significantly across South Asia. According to the recently released 2026 Global Hunger Index, Pakistan ranks as the worst-affected country in the region regarding the food crisis.

Published under the theme ‘No Security Without Food Security,’ the joint report states that South Asia’s overall score of 23.5 leaves the region’s situation in the serious category. Although there was slight progress after 2000, the crisis has worsened in Pakistan and Afghanistan since 2018.

The report notes that severe economic instability and high food prices in Pakistan have drastically reduced purchasing power for average citizens. Consequently, the country’s undernourishment rate has risen from low in 2018 to a moderate risk level, while child stunting and wasting risks are moving toward high levels. Furthermore, localized crop destruction caused by excessive rainfall and flash floods in parts of the region, including Pakistan and Bangladesh, has further accelerated the crisis.

According to estimates by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), approximately 218 million people in South Asia, including Iran, suffered from undernourishment between 2023 and 2025, accounting for nearly one-third of the global total. Experts warn that regional and global conflicts, the climate crisis, and declining international humanitarian funding are causing global hunger levels to reverse back to where they were two decades ago.

Source: Dawn.