Number of people who are undernourished in Afghanistan

Afghanistan: Number of people who are undernourished was 11.70 million millions in 2023. ▲ Rising

Latest (2023)
11.70 million millions
Change on year
unchanged
World rank
13th
of 131 countries
All-time high
11.70 million millions
in 2022
All-time low
4.80 million millions
in 2009
Years of data
23
2001–2023

Number of people who are undernourished in Afghanistan, 2001–2023

02.5M5.0M7.5M10.0M12.5M2001201220232001: 9.4M millions2002: 9.3M millions2003: 8.7M millions2004: 8.2M millions2005: 7.5M millions2006: 6.7M millions2007: 5.9M millions2008: 5.2M millions2009: 4.8M millions2010: 5.0M millions2011: 5.5M millions2012: 6.0M millions2013: 6.1M millions2014: 6.3M millions2015: 6.7M millions2016: 7.1M millions2017: 7.6M millions2018: 8.3M millions2019: 9.5M millions2020: 10.7M millions2021: 11.5M millions2022: 11.7M millions2023: 11.7M millions

Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in millions.

Analysis

The most recent figure for number of people who are undernourished in Afghanistan is 11.70 million millions, measured in 2023. That is the highest value across all 23 years on record.

That represents a change of up 91.8% over ten years.

Over the whole period, number of people who are undernourished in Afghanistan peaked at 11.70 million millions in 2022 and was at its lowest, 4.80 million millions, in 2009.

That places Afghanistan 13th out of 131 countries with data for 2023, putting it in the top 10%.

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

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
2000s 7.30 million millions 4.80 million millions 9.40 million millions 9
2010s 6.81 million millions 5.00 million millions 9.50 million millions 10
2020s 11.40 million millions 10.70 million millions 11.70 million millions 4

Countries ranked near Afghanistan

  1. 10 Tanzania 13.40 million millions compare
  2. 11 Madagascar 12.30 million millions compare
  3. 12 North Korea 12.20 million millions compare
  4. 14 Egypt 10.80 million millions compare
  5. 15 Uganda 10.70 million millions compare
  6. 16 Somalia 9.80 million millions compare

See the full ranking of 131 places →

More reference data data for Afghanistan

All data for Afghanistan →

Frequently asked questions

What is number of people who are undernourished in Afghanistan?
Number of people who are undernourished in Afghanistan was 11.70 million millions in 2023, according to Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data.
What is the highest number of people who are undernourished recorded in Afghanistan?
The highest recorded value was 11.70 million millions in 2022.
What is the lowest number of people who are undernourished recorded in Afghanistan?
The lowest recorded value was 4.80 million millions in 2009.
How does Afghanistan rank for number of people who are undernourished?
Afghanistan ranks 13th out of 131 countries with data for 2023.
Is number of people who are undernourished rising or falling in Afghanistan?
Over the last ten years it is up 91.8%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
Where does this Afghanistan data come from?
The figures come from Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data, published as part of Number of people who are undernourished. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

Download this data

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About this data

Indicator
Number of people who are undernourished
Unit
millions
Source
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage
131 places, 2,706 data points, 2001–2023
Last refreshed

Undernourishment is measured as having a caloric intake that is insufficient to meet the minimum energy requirements necessary for a given individual.