Number of people who are undernourished in Arab World

Arab World: Number of people who are undernourished was 43.70 million in 2023. ▲ Rising

Latest (2023)
43.70 million
Change on year
up 5.3%
Rank
22nd
of 42 groups
All-time high
44.00 million
in 2021
All-time low
23.70 million
in 2001
Years of data
23
2001–2023

Number of people who are undernourished in Arab World, 2001–2023

010.0M20.0M30.0M40.0M2001201220232001: 23.7M2002: 23.9M2003: 24.1M2004: 24.9M2005: 24.5M2006: 24.7M2007: 24.7M2008: 24.6M2009: 25.0M2010: 25.3M2011: 25.9M2012: 26.7M2013: 30.7M2014: 31.6M2015: 32.2M2016: 34.0M2017: 35.5M2018: 35.8M2019: 37.8M2020: 40.9M2021: 44.0M2022: 41.5M2023: 43.7M

Source: Food and Agriculture Organization (http://www.fao.org/faostat/en/#home).

Analysis

In 2023, number of people who are undernourished in Arab World stood at 43.70 million.

Compared with earlier readings it is up 5.3% on the previous year and up 42.3% over ten years.

Over the whole period, number of people who are undernourished in Arab World peaked at 44.00 million in 2021 and was at its lowest, 23.70 million, in 2001.

That places Arab World 22nd out of 42 groups with data for 2023, putting it in the middle of the range.

The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 23 years of available data.

Number of people who are undernourished in Arab World, year by year

Annual values for Number of people who are undernourished in Arab World, 2001 to 2023.
Year Value Change
2001 23.70 million
2002 23.90 million +0.8%
2003 24.10 million +0.8%
2004 24.90 million +3.3%
2005 24.50 million -1.6%
2006 24.70 million +0.8%
2007 24.70 million +0.0%
2008 24.60 million -0.4%
2009 25.00 million +1.6%
2010 25.30 million +1.2%
2011 25.90 million +2.4%
2012 26.70 million +3.1%
2013 30.70 million +15.0%
2014 31.60 million +2.9%
2015 32.20 million +1.9%
2016 34.00 million +5.6%
2017 35.50 million +4.4%
2018 35.80 million +0.8%
2019 37.80 million +5.6%
2020 40.90 million +8.2%
2021 44.00 million +7.6%
2022 41.50 million -5.7%
2023 43.70 million +5.3%

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
2000s 24.46 million 23.70 million 25.00 million 9
2010s 31.55 million 25.30 million 37.80 million 10
2020s 42.52 million 40.90 million 44.00 million 4

Countries ranked near Arab World

  1. 19 Zambia 7.70 million compare
  2. 20 Mozambique 7.30 million compare
  3. 21 Brazil 6.70 million compare
  4. 21 Iraq 6.70 million compare
  5. 23 Haiti 6.30 million compare
  6. 23 South Africa 6.30 million compare
  7. 25 Chad 6.20 million compare
  8. 25 Iran, Islamic Republic of 6.20 million compare

See the full ranking of 172 places →

More health data for Arab World

All data for Arab World →

Frequently asked questions

What is number of people who are undernourished in Arab World?
Number of people who are undernourished in Arab World was 43.70 million in 2023, according to Food and Agriculture Organization (http://www.fao.org/faostat/en/#home).
What is the highest number of people who are undernourished recorded in Arab World?
The highest recorded value was 44.00 million in 2021.
What is the lowest number of people who are undernourished recorded in Arab World?
The lowest recorded value was 23.70 million in 2001.
How does Arab World rank for number of people who are undernourished?
Arab World ranks 22nd out of 42 groups with data for 2023.
Is number of people who are undernourished rising or falling in Arab World?
Over the last ten years it is up 42.3%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
Where does this Arab World data come from?
The figures come from Food and Agriculture Organization (http://www.fao.org/faostat/en/#home), published as part of Number of people who are undernourished. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

Download this data

CSV · JSON — 23 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data).

Share, cite or embed this page

Cite this page

Number of people who are undernourished in Arab World. Statizoid, drawing on Food and Agriculture Organization (http://www.fao.org/faostat/en/#home). Retrieved 03 September 2026, from https://health.statizoid.com/stat/number-of-people-who-are-undernourished/arab-world/

Embed or link this data

Paste this into a page to link back to these figures. The data itself is free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data); please keep the attribution.

<a href="https://health.statizoid.com/stat/number-of-people-who-are-undernourished/arab-world/">Number of people who are undernourished in Arab World</a> — Statizoid

About this data

Indicator
Number of people who are undernourished
Source
Food and Agriculture Organization (http://www.fao.org/faostat/en/#home)
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data)
Coverage
172 places, 3,649 data points, 2001–2023
Last refreshed

Number of people who are undernourished shows the number of people whose habitual food consumption is insufficient to provide the dietary energy levels that are required to maintain a normal active and healthy life.