Pakistan has finished second from bottom in South Asia on the Global Hunger Index 2026, with only Afghanistan faring worse, as fresh figures show one in six people undernourished and a third of young children stunted.
Pakistan recorded a score of 25.5 on the index, placing it in the “serious” hunger category, and ranked 106th out of 122 countries with enough data to be assessed. Only Afghanistan scored higher in South Asia, at 28.6. The regional average stood at 23.5, against a global average of 18.1.
The result still marks substantial long-term improvement. Pakistan’s score has fallen from 36.2 in 2000 to 25.5 in 2026. But progress across South Asia has largely stalled since 2018, and conditions in Pakistan and Afghanistan have worsened over that period.
The index is built from four indicators. Undernourishment measures the share of the population whose calorie intake is insufficient. Child stunting records children under five who are short for their age, reflecting chronic undernutrition. Child wasting records children under five who are light for their height, reflecting acute undernutrition. Child mortality records deaths before a child’s fifth birthday.
On those measures, 16.1 per cent of Pakistan’s population is undernourished. Among children under five, 33.6 per cent are stunted and 9.8 per cent are wasted, while 5.6 per cent of children die before reaching the age of five.
The report, published under the theme “No Security Without Food Security”, was jointly prepared by Welthungerhilfe, Concern Worldwide and the Institute for International Law of Peace and Armed Conflict at Ruhr University Bochum.
The World Food Programme paints a still starker picture, putting child stunting in Pakistan at 40 per cent. Its analysis found 7.5 million people in Phase 3 (crisis) of acute food insecurity or worse, including 1.25 million facing critical levels.
The hunger figures arrive alongside a difficult economic outlook. The International Monetary Fund has projected Pakistan’s inflation rate to rise to 9.9 per cent in the 2026-27 fiscal year, up from 7.1 per cent the previous year, squeezing household purchasing power and making adequate nutrition harder to afford.
