Skip to content
Business
Economics

World Hunger Hit 15-Year High as Virus Stifled Food Access

  • About a 10th of all people were undernourished last year: UN
  • Conflict, climate and economic downturns increase in frequency
relates to World Hunger Hit 15-Year High as Virus Stifled Food Access

Photographer: Sunday Alamba/AP Photo

Updated on

World hunger spiked last year, outpacing population growth and probably reaching the highest since 2005, as the Covid-19 pandemic curbed incomes and access to food, according to the United Nations.

As many as 811 million people -- about a 10th of the global population -- were undernourished in 2020, the UN said in a report on Monday. The agency said it’ll now take a “tremendous” effort for the world to fulfill a pledge to end hunger by 2030, and reiterated a call to transform food systems.