FAO · Share of Population Unable to Afford a Healthy Diet
Unable to afford a healthy diet by country
What share of people cannot afford a healthy diet?
Of the 145 countries compared in 2025, Belarus had the lowest reading, 0.6%, and South Sudan had the highest reading, 93.9%. In the middle country the figure was 26.4%. Among the 145 countries measured in every edition since 2017, the middle one moved from 32.5% to 26.4%.
Share
Unable to afford a healthy diet · 2025
Key statistic · Poverty & Inequality
Lowest of 145Belarus
0.6%012025 · position · derived
Who leads
The three countries at the lowest end of 145 compared, the three at the other end, and the first on each continent.
1Photo: zedlik , cropped by Jjtkk · CC BY-SA 3.0, greyscale
2Photo: * Original : Matthew Hadley (nickname diff_sky) derivative work: Ximonic , Simo Räsänen derivative work: Inkey · CC BY 1.0, greyscale
3Photo: Gf uip · CC BY-SA 3.0, greyscale
Highest in 2025
South Sudan93.9%
Malawi92.7%
Mozambique91.3%
Where a country sits says how it compares with the others measured, and nothing about why.
02Every measured country
Unable to afford a healthy diet on a map
Each country is shaded by its value, in five groups holding the same number of countries. Hover a country for its value, or select it to open its profile. Below the map, each continent’s middle country.
Darker is a lower value — the better end.
- 61.1–93.9%
- 38.6–60.8%
- 17.8–38.5%
- 4.9–16.9%
- 0.6–4.5%
- No reading in 2025 (1 measured in an earlier edition)
- Europe
7.4%
the middle country, of 38 measured · 49 members
Belarus0.6%
Hungary29.8%Lowest and highest reading in Europe.
- Asia
15.5%
the middle country, of 32 measured · 52 members
Azerbaijan0.7%
Indonesia68.6%Lowest and highest reading in Asia.
- Americas
24.7%
the middle country, of 24 measured · 48 members
Canada3.0%
Haiti88.9%Lowest and highest reading in Americas.
- Africa
61.9%
the middle country, of 49 measured · 55 members
Tunisia8.6%South Sudan93.9%Lowest and highest reading in Africa.
- Oceania
2 of 21 measured — too few for a middle: Australia, Fiji.
Australia3.2%
Fiji58.0%Lowest and highest reading in Oceania.
- Every region
20 sub-regions, lowest middle country first
- Western Europe
1.1%
the middle country, of 7 measured · 9 members
2 share 0.9%
Germany5.3%Lowest and highest reading in Western Europe.
- Northern Europe
2.5%
the middle country, of 10 measured · 13 members
Ireland0.9%
Latvia16.9%Lowest and highest reading in Northern Europe.
- Western Asia
4.0%
the middle country, of 11 measured · 19 members
Azerbaijan0.7%
Syria61.1%Lowest and highest reading in Western Asia.
- Southern Europe
10.6%
the middle country, of 12 measured · 17 members
Slovenia2.3%
Greece22.7%Lowest and highest reading in Southern Europe.
- Eastern Asia
11.3%
the middle country, of 5 measured · 8 members
Taiwan3.8%
Mongolia29.8%Lowest and highest reading in Eastern Asia.
- Eastern Europe
12.4%
the middle country, of 9 measured · 10 members
Belarus0.6%Hungary29.8%Lowest and highest reading in Eastern Europe.
- Caribbean
24.7%
the middle country, of 6 measured · 24 members
Saint Lucia7.1%Haiti88.9%Lowest and highest reading in Caribbean.
- South America
24.7%
the middle country, of 10 measured · 12 members
Guyana9.3%
Chile36.8%Lowest and highest reading in South America.
- Southern Asia
35.2%
the middle country, of 8 measured · 9 members
Bhutan3.7%
Pakistan63.0%Lowest and highest reading in Southern Asia.
- Central America
38.0%
the middle country, of 6 measured · 8 members
Belize17.8%
Panama51.4%Lowest and highest reading in Central America.
- South-eastern Asia
45.0%
the middle country, of 5 measured · 11 members
Malaysia1.4%Indonesia68.6%Lowest and highest reading in South-eastern Asia.
- Western Africa
56.7%
the middle country, of 16 measured · 16 members
Gambia43.7%
Niger85.8%Lowest and highest reading in Western Africa.
- Southern Africa
59.9%
the middle country, of 5 measured · 5 members
Namibia47.9%
Lesotho77.4%Lowest and highest reading in Southern Africa.
- Middle Africa
66.6%
the middle country, of 9 measured · 9 members
Gabon39.3%
DR Congo90.1%Lowest and highest reading in Middle Africa.
- Eastern Africa
73.6%
the middle country, of 15 measured · 19 members
Mauritius17.8%South Sudan93.9%Lowest and highest reading in Eastern Africa.
- Australia and New Zealand
1 of 2 measured — too few for a middle: Australia.
Australia3.2%Lowest and highest reading in Australia and New Zealand.
- Central Asia
3 of 5 measured — too few for a middle: Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan.
Kazakhstan3.4%
Kyrgyzstan22.1%Lowest and highest reading in Central Asia.
- Melanesia
1 of 5 measured — too few for a middle: Fiji.
Fiji58.0%Lowest and highest reading in Melanesia.
- Northern Africa
4 of 6 measured — too few for a middle: Algeria, Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia.
Tunisia8.6%
Algeria38.8%Lowest and highest reading in Northern Africa.
- Northern America
2 of 4 measured — too few for a middle: Canada, United States.
Canada3.0%
United States4.5%Lowest and highest reading in Northern America.
03The whole field at once
The spread
145 countries, one dot each, on one scale — further right is a higher value. Half the countries are above 26.4%; a quarter are above 53.5%, and a quarter below 7.3%. The bar in each row marks that continent’s middle country.
04All 146 ever measured
Every country
In order, highest value first — position 1 is the highest value, the way FAO’s own tables read. “=” marks a position shared with another country. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) ranks nobody on this measure; the position is derived here by ordering the published values. It is built on household income distributions and on the World Bank's poverty lines, so it moves closely with income poverty: a country near the top is usually one where many people are poor, not one where food is unusually dear. The number of people it represents is stored beside the share.
Showing 25 of 146 countries
Values for 2025. The change column compares 2025 with 2024 only; the sparkline covers the recent editions.
052017–2025 · 9 reference years
Over time
Each point is one year from 2017, as the latest release gives it. The whole series is recalculated with new prices and incomes at every release, so compare years within this release rather than with earlier reports.
- the middle country
- the middle half of countries
- the middle of the 145 countries measured every time
- each continent’s middle country
The same, year by year
| Year | Countries | Middle country | Middle half | Measured every time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 145 | 26.4% | 7.3% – 53.5% | 26.4% |
| 2024 | 145 | 27.1% | 8.0% – 54.1% | 27.1% |
| 2023 | 146 | 27.2% | 8.6% – 55.0% | 27.2% |
| 2022 | 146 | 27.9% | 9.4% – 56.9% | 27.9% |
| 2021 | 146 | 29.7% | 9.6% – 56.8% | 31.0% |
| 2020 | 146 | 31.8% | 10.9% – 58.2% | 32.6% |
| 2019 | 146 | 29.1% | 9.8% – 55.5% | 28.6% |
| 2018 | 146 | 29.9% | 10.9% – 56.5% | 30.4% |
| 2017 | 146 | 32.4% | 12.3% – 59.2% | 32.5% |
062024 → 2025
Who rose and fell
The biggest changes in value between the two newest editions — reference years recalculated in one report, not two separate publications. Places are shown second, because they also move when other countries do.
Improved most
before → after- Syria73.5% → 61.1% · 16th → 29th−12.4
Egypt45.4% → 38.5% · 54th → 59th−6.9
Costa Rica47.5% → 41.8% · 49th → 55th−5.7
India40.6% → 35.5% · 58th → 63rd−5.1
Uzbekistan10.5% → 6.2% · 101st → 112th−4.3
Worsened most
before → after
São Tomé and Príncipe49.1% → 51.1% · 44th → 39th+2.0
Iran35.7% → 37.4% · 65th → 60th+1.7
Equatorial Guinea61.9% → 63.2% · 30th → 26th+1.3
Bolivia9.5% → 10.5% · 105th → 101st+1.0- Haiti87.9% → 88.9% · 6th → 6th+1.0
145 countries were measured in both 2024 and 2025.
07Across every edition
Unable to afford a healthy diet in records
The extremes of the statistic. A record reached by more than one country names none of them.
Highest reading on record
95.8%
Share of the population unable to afford a healthy diet (%)
Lowest reading on record
0.1%
Share of the population unable to afford a healthy diet (%)
Biggest improvement between editions
−24.2
49.1% → 24.9%
Biggest decline between editions
+33.0
41.0% → 74.0%
Most improved since first measured
−68.9
78.2% → 9.3%
At the top most often
3 of 9
editions, alone at the first-listed end
08The measure
About unable to afford a healthy diet
This is the share of people in a country who cannot afford the cheapest healthy diet available where they live, once the other basic needs every household has are paid for. It is published every year by FAO and the World Bank in The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World, and it works as a poverty line measured in food rather than in dollars.
What the number is: Share of the population unable to afford a healthy diet (%).
What it does not measure
It asks whether incomes could buy the cheapest healthy diet, not what people actually eat; and because the other needs a household must meet first are set from the World Bank's poverty lines, it moves with income poverty as much as with the price of food.
09Where it fits
Connections
Its part in the Country Index, the statistics whose values line up most closely with it across countries, and others on the same subject.
In the Country Index
A key statistic for Poverty & Inequality
“The share of people whose income cannot buy the cheapest healthy diet available where they live — a poverty line priced in food rather than in dollars.”
- Edition used
- 2025 (data 2025)
- Countries
- 145
- Licence
- CC BY 4.0
Moves with
Where unable to afford a healthy diet is higher, these tend to be higher too.
- Poverty Headcount at $3.00 a Day, Line-up EstimatesWorld Bank Group · 145 countries in commonρ 0.88
- Working Poverty RateILO · 97 countries in commonρ 0.87
- Mortality Rate, Ages 5–14UN IGME · 144 countries in commonρ 0.83
Moves against
Where unable to afford a healthy diet is higher, these tend to be lower.
- GNI per Capita (PPP)World Bank Group · 86 countries in commonρ −0.87
- Access to ElectricityWorld Bank Group · 144 countries in commonρ −0.85
- Inequality-adjusted Human Development IndexUNDP Human Development Report Office · 134 countries in commonρ −0.85
Rank correlation (ρ, from −1 to 1) across countries, on each statistic’s newest edition, out of 358 statistics sharing at least 80 countries with this one. Two statistics that move together do not cause each other.
10Keep reading
Explore further
The subject
The countries at either end
11Questions
Unable to afford a healthy diet: questions and answers
Which country has the lowest unable to afford a healthy diet?
Belarus, at 0.6%, among the 145 countries compared in 2025.
Which country has the highest unable to afford a healthy diet?
South Sudan, at 93.9%, among the 145 countries compared in 2025.
How many countries does the Share of Population Unable to Afford a Healthy Diet cover?
145 in 2025, and 146 at least once across all editions. The number measured varies from 145 to 146 between editions.
What is the world average unable to afford a healthy diet?
This site does not calculate a world average, which would depend on how countries are weighted. In the middle country of the 145 compared in 2025, the figure was 26.4%.
Is this Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)’s own ranking?
No. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) publishes the values but ranks nobody; the position on this page is derived by Nations Inquiry by ordering the published values, and equal values share a position.
How often is the Share of Population Unable to Afford a Healthy Diet published?
This site holds 9 reference years, 2017–2025, all recalculated in Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)’s 2026 report on one method — not 9 separate publications.
Where does the data come from, and can I download it?
From Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), under CC BY 4.0. FAOSTAT's Cost and Affordability of a Healthy Diet domain, read from FAO's own bulk download. The World Bank publishes the identical figures. Countries whose estimate FAO withheld or did not make are left out rather than filled in. Every edition is on this site’s Datasets pages as a full table, and downloads as a CSV file with every value unrounded.
12Method
Sources, method and citation
Source
Share of Population Unable to Afford a Healthy Diet — Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)
FAOSTAT's Cost and Affordability of a Healthy Diet domain, read from FAO's own bulk download. The World Bank publishes the identical figures. Countries whose estimate FAO withheld or did not make are left out rather than filled in.
Newest edition
Report year 2025Data year 2025
Cite the source as: FAO. 2026. FAOSTAT: Cost and Affordability of a Healthy Diet (CoAHD). Accessed on 29 September 2026. https://www.fao.org/faostat/en/#data/CAHD Licence: CC-BY-4.0.
Licence: CC BY 4.0, checked 2026-09-29.
How this page reads the numbers
- Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) ranks nobody on this measure. The position is derived by Nations Inquiry by ordering the published values; equal values share a position.
- Which end is better follows the publisher’s own reading of the measure.
- A country is named at an end only when it holds that value alone. Where several share it, the page says how many and names none first.
- Values are stored exactly as published and trimmed only for display. “The middle country” is the median of the countries measured, not a world average.
The file itself, column by column — where it came from, what each column holds, and every edition as a CSV — is on its dataset page.
Photographs
The countries at the top of this statistic, from their profiles: Wikimedia Commons, shown in greyscale, each used under the licence named.
Cite this page
Nations Inquiry (2026). Unable to afford a healthy diet by country: Share of Population Unable to Afford a Healthy Diet, data from Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). https://nationsinquiry.com/statistics/healthy-diet-unaffordable