Food Security · Africa ranking
Undernourishment by African country
Somalia has the highest prevalence of undernourishment of any African country, at 53.2% — 1.3× Madagascar's 39.5%.
Share of the population whose food intake is insufficient for an active, healthy life. 50 of 54 countries, ranked · World Bank — World Development Indicators, 2023.
Somalia
Madagascar
Democratic Republic of the CongoBy region
Full ranking
| # | Country | Undernourishment | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Somalia | 53.2% | |
| 2 | Madagascar | 39.5% | |
| 3 | Democratic Republic of the Congo | 38.5% | |
| 4 | Zambia | 37.2% | |
| 5 | Kenya | 36.8% | |
| 6 | Liberia | 35.5% | |
| 7 | Chad | 32% | |
| 8 | Central African Republic | 29.8% | |
| 9 | Republic of the Congo | 26.4% | |
| 10 | Gabon | 25.3% | |
| 11 | Rwanda | 24.4% | |
| 12 | Sierra Leone | 24.1% | |
| 13 | Botswana | 24% | |
| 14 | Angola | 22.5% | |
| 15 | South Sudan | 22.3% | |
| 16 | Guinea-Bissau | 22.1% | |
| 17 | Uganda | 22% | |
| 18 | Mozambique | 21.8% | |
| 19 | Malawi | 21.4% | |
| 20 | Tanzania | 20.2% | |
| 21 | Nigeria | 19.9% | |
| 22 | Ethiopia | 19.7% | |
| 23 | Zimbabwe | 19.7% | |
| 24 | Namibia | 18.1% | |
| 25 | Sao Tome and Principe | 17.4% | |
| 26 | Gambia | 16.8% | |
| 27 | Libya | 16.5% | |
| 28 | Comoros | 15.4% | |
| 29 | Eswatini | 14.7% | |
| 30 | Benin | 14.3% | |
| 31 | Cabo Verde | 13.5% | |
| 32 | Burkina Faso | 13.1% | |
| 33 | Djibouti | 12.9% | |
| 34 | Niger | 12.9% | |
| 35 | Mali | 12.3% | |
| 36 | Guinea | 11.4% | |
| 37 | Cote d'Ivoire | 11.1% | |
| 38 | Sudan | 11% | |
| 39 | South Africa | 10% | |
| 40 | Egypt | 9.4% | |
| 41 | Togo | 9.1% | |
| 42 | Mauritania | 8.7% | |
| 43 | Mauritius | 8.7% | |
| 44 | Morocco | 7% | |
| 45 | Ghana | 6.3% | |
| 46 | Senegal | 5.1% | |
| 47 | Cameroon | 4.8% | |
| 48 | Tunisia | 3% | |
| 49 | Algeria | 2.5% | |
| 50 | Seychelles | 2.5% |
Zambia
Kenya
Liberia
Chad
Central African Republic
Republic of the Congo
Gabon
Rwanda
Sierra Leone
Botswana
Angola
South Sudan
Guinea-Bissau
Uganda
Mozambique
Malawi
Tanzania
Nigeria
Ethiopia
Zimbabwe
Namibia
Sao Tome and Principe
Gambia
Libya
Comoros
Eswatini
Benin
Cabo Verde
Burkina Faso
Djibouti
Niger
Mali
Guinea
Cote d'Ivoire
Sudan
South Africa
Egypt
Togo
Mauritania
Mauritius
Morocco
Ghana
Senegal
Cameroon
Tunisia
Algeria
SeychellesGet this ranking via API
One call to /v1/data returns the latest Undernourishment figure for every country you pass — JSON, with source metadata on each observation.
curl "https://api.africa-api.com/v1/data?metric_key=undernourishment_pct&latest=true&country_codes=NG,KE,ZA,EG" \
-H "Authorization: Bearer $AFRICA_API_KEY"Cite or republish this ranking
Data: Africa API — World Bank — World Development Indicators, 2023. Free to republish with a link to this page. Pull the live figures via the API above so your version never goes stale.
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Drop this chart into your article or site — it stays live as the data updates. Paste the snippet anywhere HTML is allowed (a citation link is included).
Frequently asked questions
Which African country has the highest prevalence of undernourishment?
Somalia has the highest prevalence of undernourishment in Africa at 53.2% (2023), followed by Madagascar and Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Which African country has the lowest prevalence of undernourishment?
Seychelles has the lowest prevalence of undernourishment of the 50 African countries with data, at 2.5% (2023).
How many African countries report Undernourishment data?
50 of 54 African countries have a recent Undernourishment figure in the Africa API. Each value links to the country's full series with source and history.
How do I get this ranking via API?
Call GET /v1/data?metric_key=undernourishment_pct&latest=true with the country codes you need and a free Africa API key — the response returns the latest value per country as JSON.