Global Hunger Index

Global Hunger Index

The Global Hunger Index (GHI) is a multidimensional statistical tool used to describe the state of countries’ hunger situation. The GHI measures progress and failures in the global fight against hunger. The GHI is updated once a year.

The Index was adopted and further developed by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), and was first published in 2006 with the Welthungerhilfe, a German non-profit organization (NGO). Since 2007, the Irish NGO Concern Worldwide joined the group as co-publisher.

The 2012 GHI was calculated for 120 developing countries and countries in transition, 57 of which with a serious or worse hunger situation. In addition to the ranking, the GHI report focuses every year on a main topic: in 2010 the Index highlighted early childhood undernutrition among children younger than the age of two. The GHI 2011 focuses on the rising and more volatile food prices of the recent years and the effects these changes have on hunger and malnutrition. In 2012, the GHI report deals with the question how food security and sustainable use of natural resources can be achieved, when the natural sources of food become scarcer and scarcer: Ensuring sustainable food security under land, water, and energy stresses.

In addition to the yearly GHI, the Hunger Index for the States of India (ISHI) was published in 2008 and the Sub-National Hunger Index for Ethiopia was published in 2009.