“India ranks 111th out of the 125 countries with sufficient data to calculate 2023 GHI scores. With a score of 28.7 in the 2023 Global Hunger Index, India has a level of hunger that is serious,” the report said.

India’s child wasting rate stands at 18.7% – the highest recorded in the 2023 report – and its child stunting rate is 35.5%. Wasting is measured based on children’s weight relative to their height. India’s prevalence of undernourishment rate is at 16.6% while its under-five mortality rate is 3.1%.

Meanwhile India’s neighbours fared relatively better on the Index with Pakistan at 102, Bangladesh at 81, Nepal at 69 and Sri Lanka at the 60th rank. 

The Global Hunger Index is a tool for comprehensively measuring and tracking hunger at global, regional, and national levels. As per the latest report south Asia and sub-saharan Africa  have the highest hunger levels with scores indicating ‘serious’ hunger. 

The 2023 Global Hunger Index also showed that despite extensive efforts, worldwide progress against hunger remains largely at a standstill. As the demand for food continues to increase, UN officials say that up to 783 million people — one in 10 of the world’s population — go to bed hungry every night. More than 345 million people are facing high levels of food insecurity this year, an increase of almost 200 million people from early 2021 before the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We are now living with a series of concurrent and long-term crises that will continue to fuel global humanitarian needs. This is the humanitarian community’s new reality — our new normal — and we will be dealing with the fallout for years to come,” the head of World Food Programme said recently.

(With inputs from agencies)

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Updated: 12 Oct 2023, 08:18 PM IST