Gender gap in the prevalence of severe food insecurity (15 years old) in Sub-Saharan Africa
Sub-Saharan Africa: Gender gap in the prevalence of severe food insecurity (15 years old) was -0.8 % in 2024. ◆ Volatile
Gender gap in the prevalence of severe food insecurity (15 years old) in Sub-Saharan Africa, 2015–2024
Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Measured in %.
Analysis
Sub-Saharan Africa recorded -0.8 % for gender gap in the prevalence of severe food insecurity (15 years old) in 2024. That is the lowest value across all 10 years on record.
That represents a change of down 33.3% on the previous year and down 14.3% over ten years.
Over the whole period, gender gap in the prevalence of severe food insecurity (15 years old) in Sub-Saharan Africa peaked at 0 % in 2017 and was at its lowest, -0.8 %, in 2020.
That places Sub-Saharan Africa 25th out of 37 groups with data for 2024, putting it in the middle of the range.
The series is highly variable year to year, so single readings are best treated with caution.
Gender gap in the prevalence of severe food insecurity (15 years old) in Sub-Saharan Africa, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2015 | -0.7 % | — |
| 2016 | -0.2 % | -71.4% |
| 2017 | 0 % | -100.0% |
| 2018 | -0.3 % | — |
| 2019 | -0.7 % | +133.3% |
| 2020 | -0.8 % | +14.3% |
| 2021 | -0.6 % | -25.0% |
| 2022 | -0.4 % | -33.3% |
| 2023 | -0.6 % | +50.0% |
| 2024 | -0.8 % | +33.3% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010s | -0.38 % | -0.7 % | 0 % | 5 |
| 2020s | -0.64 % | -0.8 % | -0.4 % | 5 |
Countries ranked near Sub-Saharan Africa
- 22 Australia 0.3 % compare
- 22 Australia and New Zealand 0.3 % compare
- 23 Caribbean -0.7 % compare
- 24 Denmark 0.2 % compare
- 24 Luxembourg 0.2 % compare
- 24 Madagascar 0.2 % compare
- 24 Myanmar 0.2 % compare
- 24 Niger 0.2 % compare
- 24 Philippines 0.2 % compare
More agriculture & rural data for Sub-Saharan Africa
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added (current US$), annual 10.7 % change on previous year (2025)
- Rural population, per capita 0.5534 units per person (2025)
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added (current US$), per 0.1791 current US$ per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added (current US$), per 299.6 current US$ per person (2025)
- Rural population, annual growth rate 1.53 % change on previous year (2025)
- Rural population, per unit of GDP 0.0003 units per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Agricultural raw materials exports 2.6% (2024)
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added 395.96 billion current US$ (2025)
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added 17.9% (2025)
- Rural population 731.42 million (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is gender gap in the prevalence of severe food insecurity (15 years old) in Sub-Saharan Africa?
- Gender gap in the prevalence of severe food insecurity (15 years old) in Sub-Saharan Africa was -0.8 % in 2024, according to Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
- What is the highest gender gap in the prevalence of severe food insecurity (15 years old) recorded in Sub-Saharan Africa?
- The highest recorded value was 0 % in 2017.
- What is the lowest gender gap in the prevalence of severe food insecurity (15 years old) recorded in Sub-Saharan Africa?
- The lowest recorded value was -0.8 % in 2020.
- How does Sub-Saharan Africa rank for gender gap in the prevalence of severe food insecurity (15 years old)?
- Sub-Saharan Africa ranks 25th out of 37 groups with data for 2024.
- Is gender gap in the prevalence of severe food insecurity (15 years old) rising or falling in Sub-Saharan Africa?
- Over the last ten years it is down 14.3%. The long-run trend across the full record is volatile.
- Where does this Sub-Saharan Africa data come from?
- The figures come from Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, published as part of Gender gap in the prevalence of severe food insecurity (15 years old and over) (no breakdown by urbanisation) — Value — All age ranges or no breakdown by age — National. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 10 observations, free to reuse under CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO (FAO).
About this data
The Suite of Gender Indicators presents a set of indicators relevant to agrifood systems that are disaggregated by sex, with the aim of highlighting gender differences across agrifood systems. The initial set of indicators is based on those used in FAO’s 2023 Status of Women in Agrifood Systems (SWAFS) report and on the recommendations of an expert consultation held in December 2023, and covers key dimensions including economic participation, governance, agency, social norms, assets and services, education, health, and nutrition. Indicator selection was informed by expert judgment and by the availability of data with sufficient geographic and temporal coverage to enable meaningful comparisons across regions and over time. While most indicators are produced and published by FAO and other international organizations, the objective of this domain is to provide a one-stop shop for sex-disaggregated data on agrifood systems.