Over a Third of Global Population Couldn't Afford Healthy Diet in 2022, UN Report Finds

In 2022, over a third of the global population struggled to afford a healthy diet, as revealed in the latest edition of "The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World." Published by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and four other United Nations agencies, this report highlights the ongoing impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and rising food prices.  

Throughout 2022, food prices increased, raising the cost of a healthy diet. However, economic recovery and positive income effects offset these price hikes to some extent. Despite this, 35.4% of the global population, equating to 2.826 billion people, were unable to afford a healthy diet in 2022. This is a slight improvement from 2019, where 36.4% or 2.823 billion people faced the same challenge. However, the recovery was uneven across different regions.

In upper-middle- and high-income countries, the number of people unable to afford a healthy diet fell below pre-pandemic levels in 2022. Conversely, low-income countries saw this number reach its highest point since FAO began providing estimates in 2017. FAO’s Chief Economist, Maximo Torero, and David Laborde, Director of the FAO’s Agrifood Economics and Policy Division, underscored that this trend reveals significant structural issues within agrifood systems, necessitating both national and international attention.

The report outlines stark regional disparities. In Africa, 64.8% of people couldn't afford a healthy diet, while in Asia, this figure was 35.1%. In Latin America and the Caribbean, it was 27.7%, in Oceania 20.1%, and in Northern America and Europe, 4.8%. The number of people unable to afford healthy diets grew from 2019 to 2022 in low-income and lower-middle-income countries. This growth reflects the uneven post-pandemic economic recovery, with more advanced economies better positioned to handle supply-chain shocks and food price inflation.

The methodology for calculating the affordability of healthy diets is based on diversity, adequacy, moderation, and balance. The report notes that while the global average cost of a healthy diet increased by 6% in 2020 and 11% in 2021, the impact was less severe where income growth was robust and food constituted a smaller portion of household budgets, particularly in higher-income countries.

The report highlights the need to accelerate the transformation of agrifood systems to ensure resilience and address inequalities, making healthy diets accessible and affordable for all. The global average cost of a healthy diet was 3.96 PPP dollars in 2022, with significant regional variations. For instance, in Eastern Asia, the average cost was 5.34 PPP dollars, while in Northern America, it was 2.96 PPP dollars. Africa's average cost was 3.74 PPP dollars, Asia’s 4.20 PPP dollars, Latin America and the Caribbean's 4.56 PPP dollars, Oceania's 3.46 PPP dollars, and Northern America and Europe’s 3.75 PPP dollars. Within Europe, Southern Europe had a higher average cost of 4.15 PPP dollars compared to Western Europe's 3.01 PPP dollars.

A total of 1.677 billion people in lower-middle-income countries and 503 million in low-income countries could not afford a healthy diet. These groups combined represent 77% of the global population unable to afford healthy diets. Those unable to afford the least-cost healthy diet in their countries are likely experiencing some degree of food and nutritional insecurity, which risks increasing rates of chronic hunger and conditions such as stunting and wasting.

The FAO's efforts to monitor the cost of affordable diets serve as an early warning indicator, especially in countries with weak fiscal capacities where economic growth is hindered by high food costs. The data in the SOFI 2024 report highlight the critical need for innovative investments in agrifood systems to mitigate these challenges.