World hunger rising as UN agencies warn of “looming catastrophe”

Up to 828 million people, or nearly 10% of the world's population, were affected by hunger last year, 46 million more than in 2020 and 150 million more than in 2019.

World hunger levels rose again last year after soaring in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic, with the Ukraine war and climate change threatening starvation and mass migration on an “unprecedented scale” this year, according to UN agencies.