The number of people facing high levels of food insecurity in Bangladesh has fallen notably over the past year, but the situation remains fragile amid persistent inflation, economic constraints, and climate-induced shocks, according to the Global Report on Food Crises 2025 and the Food and Agriculture Organization’s (FAO) Crop Prospects and Food Situation.

According to the report, the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) analysis for Bangladesh in April 2025 shows that around 15.5 million people or 16% of the analysed population faced food insecurity at a “Crisis-level (IPC Phase 3 or above)”.

This marks a significant improvement from October 2024, when 23.6 million people 26% were in the same category, said the report.

However, the country’s food security situation is projected to remain vulnerable due to ongoing economic pressures, high inflation, and the lingering impact of floods and Cyclone Remal in 2024, which disrupted livelihoods and reduced household purchasing power, according to the reports.               

Agricultural economist Dr Jahangir Alam told the Daily Sun that the improvement in national figures shouldn’t obscure the deeper vulnerabilities facing poor and displaced populations.

He said, “The drop from 26% to 16% is encouraging, but it’s largely a statistical relief, not a structural one. Bangladesh’s food system is still exposed to four concurrent pressures – persistent inflation, weather extremes, heavy reliance on food imports each year and declining rural purchasing power.”

Targeted safety nets, local food storage resilience, and price stabilisation mechanisms are essential to prevent temporary improvements from collapsing under future shocks, he added.

Meanwhile, about 295 million people across 53 food-crisis countries and territories faced high levels of acute food insecurity (IPC/CH Phase 3 or above) in 2024. Among them, Bangladesh ranked fourth globally in terms of the number of people affected after Nigeria, Sudan, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, but ahead of Ethiopia, said the report.

It also said more than 35 million people across all crisis-affected countries were in “Emergency (IPC Phase 4)”, and nearly 2 million were in “Catastrophe (IPC Phase 5)” conditions.

Food ‘crisis’, ‘stress’ persist

The Global Report’s analysis, covering 39 administrative units in the country, classified 16 districts in “IPC Phase 3 (Crisis)”, mainly due to the combined effects of climate shocks and inflation-driven price hikes. The remaining 23 districts were classified as “IPC Phase 2 (Stressed)” in terms of food situation.

The highest incidence of acute food insecurity was recorded in Cox’s Bazar, particularly among Forcibly Displaced Myanmar Nationals (FDMN) and host communities, where 30% of the population was in IPC Phase 3 or in crisis. Other highly affected areas include Barguna, Bandarban, Noakhali, Bhashanchar, Satkhira, and Sunamganj, where around 25% of the population was also classified as people in crisis.

“These populations require urgent interventions to safeguard their livelihoods and mitigate food deficits,” the report warned.

Between May and December 2025, the number of people in IPC Phase 3 or above is projected to rise slightly to 16 million or around 17% of the total analysed population. This includes about 4 lakh people expected to fall under the “Emergency (IPC Phase 4)” category.

The situation is anticipated to worsen for the FDMN population in Cox’s Bazar and Bhashanchar, where 20% are expected to be in Phase 4 (Emergency) and another 20% in Phase 3 (Crisis). In Sunamganj, about 30% of people are projected to be in IPC Phase 3 (Crisis) or above, with 5% entering Phase 4 (Emergency).

Globally, the report identifies Palestine (Gaza Strip), South Sudan, Sudan, Yemen, and Haiti as the countries with the highest share of their populations facing severe food insecurity. Meanwhile, the FAO report lists eight Asian countries, including Bangladesh, as currently in need of external food assistance.

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