Global Hunger Index Report 2024: India at 105th position, better than Nepal, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh

New Delhi: India ranks 105th among 127 countries in the Global Hunger Index Report 2024. However, compared to previous years, India’s rank has improved this year. But India is still among the countries with ‘serious’ hunger problems. India’s ranking is behind its neighbors Sri Lanka, Nepal, Myanmar and Bangladesh, while just above Pakistan and Afghanistan. Sri Lanka at 56, Nepal at 68 and Bangladesh at 84 are far ahead of India. India has been ranked 105 among 127 countries in the 19th Global Hunger Index (GHI) report for 2024. According to this report, India is among those countries where hunger is a ‘serious’ problem. In the report, India has been placed behind its neighbors Sri Lanka, Nepal, Myanmar and Bangladesh, while it is slightly ahead of Pakistan and Afghanistan. Published jointly by Concern Worldwide and Welthungerhilfe, the Global Hunger Index report tracks hunger around the world, particularly focusing on areas where urgent action is needed.

India’s score 27.3

India’s score in the 2024 report is 27.3, indicating a severe level of hunger. The report noted a slight increase in the prevalence of malnutrition in India in recent years. However, India’s 2024 score shows some improvement from its 2016 GHI score of 29.3. Even in 2016, India was still in the ‘severe’ category. But, it is still far behind its neighbours. This is considerable progress compared to scores of 38.4 and 35.2 in 2000 and 2008 respectively, both of which were in the ‘worrying’ category.

Serious challenges like child malnutrition are facing

India still faces serious challenges such as child undernutrition, with the highest prevalence of child wasting (18.7%) globally. The rate of child stunting in the country is 35.5%, the under-five mortality rate is 2.9% and the prevalence of malnutrition is 13.7%. Although India has significantly improved its child mortality rate since 2000, child malnutrition remains a serious issue, with both wasting and stunting at alarmingly high levels.