The Global Report on Food Crises (GRFC) for 2023 highlights that the number of people experiencing acute food insecurity and requiring urgent food and livelihood assistance is on the rise. The report indicates that over a quarter of a billion people are facing acute hunger, with economic shocks and the Ukraine war contributing to the increase. In 2022, around 258 million people across 58 countries and territories faced acute food insecurity at crisis or worse levels (IPC/CH Phase 3-5), up from 193 million people in 53 countries and territories in 2021.
The trend of the total population in high levels of acute food insecurity presented by the different editions of the GRFC needs careful interpretation since the total population analysed in the report has also increased significantly over the years. In this sense, it is useful look at the evolution of the percentage of people in phase 3 or above or equivalent of the analysed populations in the same 38 countries analysed in all editions of the GRFC, which has increased from 13% in 2016 to 23% in 2022.