Pan American Health Organization

Chapter 1 Food Security Indicators – Latest Updates and Progress Towards Ending Hunger and Ensuring Food Security

Key messages
  • World hunger rose in 2021, affecting 9.8 percent of the population at the global level. Latin America and the Caribbean reached its highest prevalence since 2006, with 8.6 percent of people suffering from hunger in 2021. Between 2015 and 2021, the prevalence of hunger increased more in Latin America and the Caribbean than in the rest of the world.
  • In 2021, 56.5 million people in the region were affected by hunger. The number has grown by 13.2 million since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2019.
  • Between 2019 and 2021, hunger increased the most in South America (11 million additional people), reaching a prevalence of 7.9 percent. In Mesoamerica the prevalence was 8.4 percent (1.6 million additional people), and in the Caribbean 16.4 percent (0.6 million additional people).
  • The prevalence of food insecurity is higher in Latin America and the Caribbean than the world average. In 2021, 40.6 percent of the region’s population faced moderate or severe food insecurity, while 29.3 percent of the world’s population was affected by moderate or severe food insecurity.
  • The increase in the prevalence of moderate or severe food insecurity between 2019 and 2021 was greater in Latin America and the Caribbean than in the world. This can be explained by the economic effects of the pandemic on the countries, because the region was one of the hardest hit by the pandemic and has the highest level of income inequality compared to other regions.
  • The number of people experiencing moderate or severe food insecurity in Latin America and the Caribbean increased from 205.2 million in 2019 to 267.7 million in 2021. This is mainly due to the increase in South America, and provides additional evidence of a deteriorating situation, especially for people already facing serious hardship. Moderate or severe food insecurity in 2021 affected 177.7 million people in South America, 61.9 million in Mesoamerica, and 28 million in the Caribbean.
  • In 2021, 93.5 million people experienced severe food insecurity in Latin America and the Caribbean, a 29.5 million increase compared to 2019. Severe food insecurity has been rising at a faster pace in South America, where it has tripled since 2014, from 22 million to 65.6 million people.
  • In the world, food insecurity affected more women than men. The disparity in the region is 11.3 percentage points and is larger relative to the world where the gap is 4.3 percentage points.