Number of people severely food insecure in United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland: Number of people severely food insecure was 2.30 million in 2023. ▲ Rising

Latest (2023)
2.30 million
Change on year
up 35.3%
World rank
33rd
of 118 countries
All-time high
2.30 million
in 2023
All-time low
500,000
in 2019
Years of data
9
2015–2023

Number of people severely food insecure in United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, 2015–2023

500.0k1.0M1.5M2.0M2.5M2015201920232015: 1.2M2016: 1.4M2017: 1.1M2018: 900.0k2019: 500.0k2020: 800.0k2021: 1.1M2022: 1.7M2023: 2.3M

Source: Our World in Data.

Analysis

In 2023, number of people severely food insecure in United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland stood at 2.30 million. That is the highest value across all 9 years on record.

The figure is up 35.3% on the previous year and up 91.7% over ten years.

Over the whole period, number of people severely food insecure in United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland peaked at 2.30 million in 2023 and was at its lowest, 500,000, in 2019.

That places United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland 33rd out of 118 countries with data for 2023, putting it in the middle of the range.

Number of people severely food insecure in United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, year by year

Annual values for Number of people severely food insecure in United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, 2015 to 2023.
Year Value Change
2015 1.20 million
2016 1.40 million +16.7%
2017 1.10 million -21.4%
2018 900,000 -18.2%
2019 500,000 -44.4%
2020 800,000 +60.0%
2021 1.10 million +37.5%
2022 1.70 million +54.5%
2023 2.30 million +35.3%

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
2010s 1.02 million 500,000 1.40 million 5
2020s 1.48 million 800,000 2.30 million 4

Countries ranked near United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

  1. 30 Sierra Leone 2.80 million compare
  2. 31 Colombia 2.60 million compare
  3. 31 Côte d'Ivoire 2.60 million compare
  4. 33 Algeria 2.30 million compare
  5. 33 Viet Nam 2.30 million compare
  6. 36 Benin 2.10 million compare
  7. 36 Ecuador 2.10 million compare
  8. 36 Ukraine 2.10 million compare

See the full ranking of 118 places →

More reference data data for United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

All data for United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland →

Frequently asked questions

What is number of people severely food insecure in United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland?
Number of people severely food insecure in United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland was 2.30 million in 2023, according to Our World in Data.
What is the highest number of people severely food insecure recorded in United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland?
The highest recorded value was 2.30 million in 2023.
What is the lowest number of people severely food insecure recorded in United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland?
The lowest recorded value was 500,000 in 2019.
How does United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland rank for number of people severely food insecure?
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland ranks 33rd out of 118 countries with data for 2023.
Is number of people severely food insecure rising or falling in United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland?
Over the last ten years it is up 91.7%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
Where does this United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland data come from?
The figures come from Our World in Data, published as part of Number of people severely food insecure. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

Download this data

CSV · JSON — 9 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).

Share, cite or embed this page

Cite this page

Number of people severely food insecure in United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Statizoid, drawing on Our World in Data. Retrieved 24 August 2026, from https://reference.statizoid.com/stat/number-of-people-severely-food-insecure/united-kingdom/

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 (Our World in Data); please keep the attribution.

<a href="https://reference.statizoid.com/stat/number-of-people-severely-food-insecure/united-kingdom/">Number of people severely food insecure in United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland</a> — Statizoid

About this data

Indicator
Number of people severely food insecure
Source
Our World in Data
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage
118 places, 973 data points, 2015–2023
Last refreshed