TWN Info Service on Health Issues (Aug25/01)
1 August 2025
Third World Network

UN: The cost of eating healthy rises sharply in poor nations, says report
Published in SUNS #10273 dated 31 July 2025

Penang, 30 Jul (Kanaga Raja) — Food prices rose throughout 2023 and 2024, pushing up the average cost of a healthy diet globally to 4.46 purchasing power parity (PPP) dollars per person per day, up from 4.30 PPP dollars in 2023 and 4.01 PPP dollars in 2022, according to a new report by five United Nations agencies.

In their “The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2025” report, the UN agencies said that despite rising global food prices over 2024, the number of people unable to afford a healthy diet fell from 2.76 billion in 2019 to 2.60 billion in 2024.

However, the improvement was uneven. In the low-income countries, where the cost of a healthy diet rose more sharply than in higher-income countries, the number of people unable to afford a healthy diet increased from 464 million in 2019 to 545 million in 2024, they added.

In lower-middle-income countries (excluding India), the number rose from 791 million in 2019 to 869 million over the same period.

The flagship report was published by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the World Food Programme (WFP), and the World Health Organization (WHO).

According to the report, food prices continued to rise in 2024, driving up the average cost of a healthy diet globally and across all regions.

It said the CoHD (cost of a healthy diet) indicator has risen worldwide since 2017 (the first year for which FAO disseminates estimates), reaching an average of 4.46 PPP dollars per person per day in 2024.

It noted that the CoHD rose significantly between 2022 and 2023 – though at a slower rate than from 2021 to 2022, when a sharp increase was observed.

Globally, following a peak increase of 11.4 percent between 2021 and 2022, the CoHD rose by 7.2 percent in 2023, and by a more moderate 3.7 percent in 2024.

Comparing the cost of a healthy diet across regions in 2024, the report said that the CoHD was highest in Latin America and the Caribbean (an average of 5.16 PPP dollars), with an increase of 7.6 percent between 2022 and 2023, followed by a 3.8 percent increase between 2023 and 2024.

In Asia, the average CoHD rose from 4.09 PPP dollars in 2022 to 4.43 PPP dollars in 2024, with Eastern Asia recording by far the highest average CoHD in the region (5.95 PPP dollars), followed by South-eastern Asia (4.63 PPP dollars).

The report said that Africa saw a 7.5 percent increase in the CoHD from 3.89 PPP dollars in 2022 to 4.18 PPP dollars in 2023, with Northern Africa experiencing the largest surge of 13 percent followed by Southern Africa (7.8 percent) and Eastern Africa (7.7 percent).

“This upward trend continued in Africa between 2023 and 2024, with CoHD rising by 5.5 percent, reaching an average of 4.41 PPP dollars – the greatest year-on-year increase among all world regions in this period.”

The largest surge in 2024 occurred in Eastern Africa (7.2 percent), followed by Northern Africa (5.5 percent).

Compared to the other regions, Northern America and Europe showed a moderate increase in the average cost of a healthy diet during the COVID-19 pandemic (from 2.96 PPP dollars in 2019 to 3.14 PPP dollars in 2021) but then experienced a substantial increase of 14 percent from 2021 to 2022, followed by an increase of 8.9 percent between 2022 and 2023, said the report.

“The situation slightly improved between 2023 and 2024, with a 3.1 percent increase in the CoHD, reaching 4.02 PPP dollars.”

Meanwhile, in Oceania, the CoHD increased from 3.75 PPP dollars in 2023 to 3.86 PPP dollars in 2024.

When broken down by income group, upper- and lower-middle-income countries (UMICs and LMICs) recorded the highest average cost of a healthy diet in 2024 at 4.83 PPP dollars and 4.48 PPP dollars per day, respectively.

The report said that low-income countries (LICs) followed at 4.41 PPP dollars, and then high-income countries (HICs) at 4.22 PPP dollars.

In LICs, the average CoHD increased by 7 percent between 2023 and 2024, following a 7.6 percent surge from 2022 to 2023 – the highest increase across income groups.

It said worldwide, an estimated 31.9 percent of people (2.60 billion) were unable to afford a healthy diet in 2024, compared to 33.5 percent (2.68 billion) in 2022, equivalent to nearly 80 million fewer people in two years.

It said after declining by 172 million, from 2.93 billion in 2017 to 2.76 billion in 2019, the NUA (the number of people unable to afford a healthy diet) rose to 2.91 billion in 2020, coinciding with the COVID-19 pandemic.

This rise was followed by a sharp decline in 2021 (2.75 billion) and a continued three-year declining trend in both the prevalence and the number of people unable to afford a healthy diet, it added.

“However, the recovery has been uneven across regions. In recent years, unaffordability has been decreasing significantly in Asia and only marginally in Latin America and the Caribbean, Northern America and Europe, and Oceania.”

Conversely, the report said it increased substantially in Africa. Two-thirds of the population of Africa was unable to afford a healthy diet in 2024 – more than double the global percentage of 31.9 percent.

It said the percentages in Asia and in Latin America and the Caribbean were just below the global average (28.1 percent and 27.4 percent, respectively), while a healthy diet was out of reach for 19.6 percent of the population in Oceania and 5.0 percent in Northern America.

The report said that in Africa, the NUA rose to 1,008.9 million in 2024, up by 71.2 million from 2022 and by 144.9 million compared to 2019.

Sub-Saharan Africa experienced a significant deterioration between 2022 and 2024, as the NUA rose by 43.3 million to reach 896.5 million.

The majority of people lacking economic access to a healthy diet in 2024 lived in Eastern Africa (365.5 million) and Western Africa (319.6 million). These two regions combined saw an increase of 31.7 million in the NUA from 2022 to 2024.

Northern Africa showed a decline from 2019 to 2022 (from 94.6 million to 84.5 million), followed by an uptick in 2023 and 2024.

Although Northern Africa had the lowest prevalence in the region in 2024 (41.3 percent), the NUA increased by 27.9 million from 2022 to 2024, said the report.

“Middle Africa also experienced a substantial increase (10 million) in the same period, while Southern Africa showed the smallest increase in the region (1.6 million).”

The report said that in Asia, a healthy diet was out of reach for 1.35 billion people in 2024 after four consecutive years of improvement; following a peak in 2020, affordability improved, with 291.6 million fewer people unable to afford a healthy diet in 2024 than in 2019.

It said Southern Asia recorded a decline for the fourth consecutive year, with 206.4 million fewer people unable to afford a healthy diet in 2024 compared to 2020, fully offsetting the increase that had occurred in the wake of the pandemic in 2020, a result mostly due to India.

Following a significant improvement in 2021 (126 million fewer people), Eastern Asia’s recovery continued up to 2024, with 47.6 million fewer people unable to afford a healthy diet compared to 2022.

The report said South-eastern Asia also experienced an improvement between 2022 and 2024 as the NUA fell by 16.7 million, followed by Central Asia with a drop of 1.5 million. Western Asia was the only subregion to see the NUA increase in this period – by 6.5 million.

In Latin America and the Caribbean, the NUA rose by 7.9 million between 2020 and 2021, but this increase was more than offset by an improvement of 15.4 million from 2021 to 2022.

In 2024, the total number reached 181.9 million – 1.6 million more people than in 2019 because of the growth in the total population – while the PUA (prevalence of unaffordability of a healthy diet) dropped slightly, indicating some progress, the report said.

“In South America, there are signs of a slight decrease in the NUA from 2022 to 2024, while the Caribbean saw a marginal increase.”

In Northern America and Europe, the NUA fell from 69.9 million in 2019 to 56.2 million in 2024 – corresponding to 13.7 million fewer people unable to afford a healthy diet.

The report noted a slight decrease in Northern America, where the PUA decreased from 4.5 percent in 2022 to 4.3 percent in 2024.

“Europe experienced a similar decrease, from 5.6 percent in 2022 to 5.3 percent in 2024, with 2.6 million fewer people unable to afford a healthy diet. This change was mainly driven by improvements in Eastern Europe.”

Oceania saw an increase from 7.8 million in 2019 to 10 million people in 2021, and then a reduction to 9 million by 2023 and no change in 2024, it said.

The report said that the unequal recovery is even more evident across country income groups.

The recovery path is slower for low-income countries, where the NUA has been steadily increasing since 2017 (the first year for which FAO publishes estimates).

It said in 2024, a healthy diet was out of reach for 544.7 million people in LICs, equivalent to 72 percent of the population.

“The halt in economic growth in recent years, coupled with the sharp rise in food prices, has clearly eroded substantially people’s ability to afford nutritious foods, especially in LICs,” it suggested.

On the other hand, it said in upper-middle- and high-income countries, the PUA and NUA have been declining since 2020.

In lower-middle-income countries, the NUA decreased between 2020 and 2024, but this improvement is mainly explained by the significant decrease in unaffordability in India.

Excluding India from the group shows that, in LMICs, the NUA actually increased from 791 million in 2019 to 869 million in 2024, it added.

Economic access to food is a key dimension of food security. People who are unable to afford even a least-cost healthy diet are likely experiencing some level of food insecurity, which can compromise the quality of their diet. Inadequate diets, in turn, play a critical role in shaping nutritional outcomes, the report pointed out. +