Hunger is falling across Southeast Asia. The region's next challenge is more demanding: ensuring that everyone can afford a healthy diet, not merely enough calories to survive.
Southeast Asia's hunger rate fell to 5.1% in 2025, its lowest level on record and down from the pandemic peak of 5.9% in 2020. About 35 million people faced hunger, roughly half the 70 million recorded in 2010. Over the same period, Southeast Asia's share of the world's hungry fell from about 11% to about 5%.
