Number of moderately or severely food insecure people (million) in South America

South America: Number of moderately or severely food insecure people (million) was 91.5 million No in 2023. ▲ Rising

Latest (2023)
91.5 million No
Change on year
down 10.1%
Rank
20th
of 37 groups
All-time high
123.9 million No
in 2020
All-time low
74.3 million No
in 2014
Years of data
10
2014–2023

Number of moderately or severely food insecure people (million) in South America, 2014–2023

02550751001252014201820232014: 74.3 million No2015: 90.7 million No2016: 99.4 million No2017: 100.3 million No2018: 106.3 million No2019: 117.3 million No2020: 123.9 million No2021: 115.1 million No2022: 101.8 million No2023: 91.5 million No

Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Measured in million No.

Analysis

In 2023, number of moderately or severely food insecure people (million) in South America stood at 91.5 million No.

That represents a change of down 10.1% on the previous year and up 23.1% over ten years.

Over the whole period, number of moderately or severely food insecure people (million) in South America peaked at 123.9 million No in 2020 and was at its lowest, 74.3 million No, in 2014.

South America ranks 20th of 37 groups on this measure, in the middle of the range.

Number of moderately or severely food insecure people (million) in South America, year by year

Annual values for Number of moderately or severely food insecure people (million) (3-year average) — Confidence interval: Lower bound in South America, 2014 to 2023.
Year million No Change
2014 74.3 million No
2015 90.7 million No +22.1%
2016 99.4 million No +9.6%
2017 100.3 million No +0.9%
2018 106.3 million No +6.0%
2019 117.3 million No +10.3%
2020 123.9 million No +5.6%
2021 115.1 million No -7.1%
2022 101.8 million No -11.6%
2023 91.5 million No -10.1%

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
2010s 98.05 million No 74.3 million No 117.3 million No 6
2020s 108.08 million No 91.5 million No 123.9 million No 4

Countries ranked near South America

  1. 17 Myanmar 14.8 million No compare
  2. 18 Ghana 14.5 million No compare
  3. 19 Colombia 14.3 million No compare
  4. 20 Niger 13.1 million No compare
  5. 21 Argentina 13 million No compare
  6. 22 Chad 12.7 million No compare
  7. 23 South Africa 12.6 million No compare

See the full ranking of 159 places →

More agriculture & rural data for South America

All data for South America →

Frequently asked questions

What is number of moderately or severely food insecure people (million) in South America?
Number of moderately or severely food insecure people (million) in South America was 91.5 million No in 2023, according to Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
What is the highest number of moderately or severely food insecure people (million) recorded in South America?
The highest recorded value was 123.9 million No in 2020.
What is the lowest number of moderately or severely food insecure people (million) recorded in South America?
The lowest recorded value was 74.3 million No in 2014.
How does South America rank for number of moderately or severely food insecure people (million)?
South America ranks 20th out of 37 groups with data for 2023.
Is number of moderately or severely food insecure people (million) rising or falling in South America?
Over the last ten years it is up 23.1%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
Where does this South America data come from?
The figures come from Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, published as part of Number of moderately or severely food insecure people (million) (3-year average) — Confidence interval: Lower bound. 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).

Share, cite or embed this page

Cite this page

Number of moderately or severely food insecure people (million) in South America. Statizoid, drawing on Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Retrieved 13 September 2026, from https://agriculture.statizoid.com/stat/number-of-moderately-or-severely-food-insecure-people-million-3-year-average-confidence/south-america/

Embed or link this data

Paste this into a page to link back to these figures. The data itself is free to reuse under CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO (FAO); please keep the attribution.

<a href="https://agriculture.statizoid.com/stat/number-of-moderately-or-severely-food-insecure-people-million-3-year-average-confidence/south-america/">Number of moderately or severely food insecure people (million) in South America</a> — Statizoid

About this data

Indicator
Number of moderately or severely food insecure people (million) (3-year average) — Confidence interval: Lower bound
Unit
million No
Source
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
Licence
CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO (FAO)
Coverage
159 places, 1,495 data points, 2014–2023
Last refreshed

The Suite of Food Security Indicators presents the core set of food security indicators. Following the recommendation of experts gathered in the Committee on World Food Security (CFS) Round Table on hunger measurement, hosted at FAO headquarters in September 2011, an initial set of indicators aiming to capture various aspects of food insecurity is presented here. The choice of the indicators has been informed by expert judgement and the availability of data with sufficient coverage to enable comparisons across regions and over time. Many of these indicators are produced and published elsewhere by FAO and other international organizations. They are reported here in a single database with the aim of building a wide food security information system. More indicators will be added to this set as more data will become available. Indicators are classified along the four dimensions of food security -- availability, access, utilization and stability.