Nearly 1.6 crore Bangladeshi citizens faced high levels of acute food insecurity in 2025, placing Bangladesh among the world's top 10 worst-affected nations, according to the Global Report on Food Crises compiled by UN agencies. The report, cited by Daily Star, warns that conditions are unlikely to improve in 2026 due to persistent conflicts, climate shocks, economic instability, and supply-chain disruptions linked to the Middle East crisis.

The 10 Worst-Affected Countries

The ten nations identified in the report are Afghanistan, Myanmar, Pakistan, Bangladesh, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Nigeria, South Sudan, Sudan, the Syrian Arab Republic, and Yemen. Together, these countries accounted for roughly two-thirds of the 26.6 crore people worldwide who experienced acute food insecurity last year.

Notably, the report pointed out that half of the world's poorest people live in just five countries, three of which — Bangladesh, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Nigeria — are trapped in protracted food crises. Chronic economic weakness, it stated, continues to erode resilience at both household and national levels.

Conflict Remains the Primary Driver

Conflicts remained the single largest driver of acute hunger globally, pushing half of all affected people into severe food distress. UN Secretary-General António Guterres called for scaled-up investment in humanitarian aid and an immediate end to the conflicts fuelling the crisis. This comes amid a broader global pattern where geopolitical instability and climate events are compounding what were already fragile food systems in developing nations.

Bangladesh: A Mixed Picture

Despite its grim ranking, Bangladesh recorded some progress in 2025: the number of people facing acute food insecurity fell by 32 percent compared to the previous year. However, the report flagged worsening conditions among forcibly displaced Myanmar nationals in two districts of Bangladesh, driven by a fresh influx of Rohingya refugees, recurring flooding, and cuts to humanitarian assistance — factors that could reverse recent gains.

Global Scale of the Crisis

The scale of the global food emergency is staggering. Over 3.9 crore people in 32 countries faced emergency levels of food insecurity, while the number experiencing catastrophic hunger has surged ninefold since 2016. Around 3.55 crore children were acutely malnourished in 2025, including nearly 1 crore suffering from severe acute malnutrition — a figure that underscores the long-term developmental consequences of the crisis beyond immediate survival concerns.

Acute food insecurity, as defined in the report, refers to a situation where one or more dimensions of food security — availability, access, utilisation, and stability — are disrupted to a livelihood-threatening extent. With structural drivers remaining unaddressed, humanitarian agencies warn that the 2026 outlook offers little cause for optimism.