©FAO/Sanja Knežević
30 June 2026, Budapest, Hungary – The Europe and Central Asia region remains broadly on track for many Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 2 targets, with undernourishment staying well below global levels. Yet millions of people across the region still face food insecurity and cannot afford a healthy diet, according to the new edition of the annual Regional Overview of Food Security and Nutrition in Europe and Central Asia, produced by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).
The report provides an annual assessment of progress towards ending hunger, achieving food security, improving nutrition and promoting sustainable agriculture. The 2025 edition shows that the prevalence of undernourishment in the Europe and Central Asia region has remained below 2.5 percent since 2006, far below the 2024 global estimate of 8.2 percent. Central Asia is the only subregion in which undernourishment remains above that threshold, at 2.8 percent in both 2023 and 2024.
At the same time, the report warns that food insecurity and access to healthy diets remain important challenges.
In 2024, an estimated 98.1 million people in the region – about 10 percent of the population – were moderately or severely food insecure. Although this marks an improvement from the 103.1 million people in 2020, disparities persist. Moderate or severe food insecurity was higher than the regional average in Central Asia (16.2 percent), the Caucasus (15.3 percent) and the Western Balkans (11.1 percent).
Severe food insecurity affected 22.4 million people in the region in 2024, or 2.4 percent of the population. This was down slightly from 2023 but remained above the pre-pandemic level recorded in 2019. Women were also slightly more affected than men by moderate or severe food insecurity in 2024, a pattern consistent with global trends.
“Countries of Europe and Central Asia have made important progress in strengthening food security; however, nutritional and dietary challenges have not fully disappeared yet,” noted Viorel Gutu, FAO Assistant Director-General and Regional Representative. “Rising costs, uneven access to nutritious foods and continuing differences among subregions require coordinated efforts as we strive towards building a world without hunger.”
Healthy diets and malnutrition trends
One of the strongest warning signs concerns the affordability of healthy diets. In 2024, 59.6 million people in the region were unable to afford a healthy diet, despite a reduction of 3.1 million people compared to 2023. The report finds large differences among subregions. The percentage of people whose disposable income is lower than the minimum cost of a healthy diet was highest in the Caucasus (15.0 percent), followed by Central Asia (14.0 percent).
Nutrition indicators paint a mixed picture. Stunting among children under five remained low in the region, at 4.6 percent in 2024, far below the global estimate of 23.2 percent. Wasting was also well below global levels in the subregions where data were available. However, overweight among children under five remained a concern, reaching 7.5 percent in 2024 – higher than the global estimate of 5.5 percent.
The report also highlights adult obesity as a growing nutrition challenge. The prevalence of adult obesity in Europe and Central Asia increased from 16.7 percent in 2000 to 22.6 percent in 2022, well above the global level of 15.8 percent. Almost all countries with available data recorded higher adult obesity in 2022 than ten years earlier.
Anaemia among women aged 15 to 49 also requires continued attention. The prevalence in the region rose from 17.6 percent in 2012 to 21.3 percent in 2023. While this remains below the global estimate of 30.7 percent, the prevalence was slightly above the global level in Central Asia and the Caucasus.
FAO emphasizes that achieving SDG 2 by 2030 will require continued and coordinated transformation of agrifood systems. This includes improving access to healthy and affordable diets, strengthening resilience to shocks, and ensuring that policies are inclusive of vulnerable groups, including small-scale farmers, women and youth.
The Regional Overview of Food Security and Nutrition in Europe and Central Asia aims to support governments and partners across sectors – including civil society and the private sector – in accelerating progress towards a hunger-free, food-secure and healthy region. It is published in English and Russian and is accompanied by an infographic providing a brief overview of the key data.
