Globalization
Interactive Map: Tracking World Hunger and Food Insecurity
Interactive Map: Tracking World Hunger and Food Insecurity
Hunger is still one the biggest—and most solvable—problems in the world.
Every day, more than 700 million people (8.8% of the world’s population) go to bed on an empty stomach, according to the UN World Food Programme (WFP).
The WFP’s HungerMap LIVE displayed here tracks core indicators of acute hunger like household food consumption, livelihoods, child nutritional status, mortality, and access to clean water in order to rank countries.
But whereas acute hunger measures short-term inability to meet food consumption requirements, often related to crises, many people in the world also suffer from chronic hunger. This is the persistent inability to meet food consumption requirements, usually lasting for at least six months.
After sitting closer to 600 million from 2014 to 2019, the number of people in the world affected by hunger increased during the COVID-19 pandemic.
In 2020, 155 million people (2% of the world’s population) experienced acute hunger, requiring urgent assistance.
The Fight to Feed the World
The problem of world hunger isn’t new and attempts to solve it have made headlines for decades.
On July 13, 1985, at Wembley Stadium in London, Prince Charles and Princess Diana officially opened Live Aid, a worldwide rock concert organized to raise money for the relief of famine-stricken Africans.
The event was followed by similar concerts at other arenas around the world, globally linked by satellite to more than a billion viewers in 110 nations, raising more than $125 million ($309 million in today’s dollars) in famine relief for Africa.
But 35+ years later, the continent still struggles. According to the UN, from 12 countries with the highest prevalence of insufficient food consumption in the world, nine are in Africa.
Country | % Population Affected by Hunger | Population (millions) | Region |
---|---|---|---|
Afghanistan 🇦🇫 | 93% | 40.4 | Asia |
Somalia 🇸🇴 | 68% | 12.3 | Africa |
Burkina Faso 🇧🇫 | 61% | 19.8 | Africa |
South Sudan 🇸🇸 | 60% | 11.0 | Africa |
Mali 🇲🇱 | 60% | 19.1 | Africa |
Sierra Leone 🇸🇱 | 55% | 8.2 | Africa |
Syria 🇸🇾 | 55% | 18.0 | Middle East |
Niger 🇳🇪 | 55% | 22.4 | Africa |
Lesotho 🇱🇸 | 50% | 2.1 | Africa |
Guinea 🇬🇳 | 48% | 12.2 | Africa |
Benin 🇧🇯 | 47% | 11.5 | Africa |
Yemen 🇾🇪 | 44% | 30.0 | Middle East |
Approximately 30 million people in Africa face the effects of severe food insecurity, including malnutrition, starvation, and poverty.
Wasted Leftovers
Although many of the reasons for the food crisis around the globe involve conflicts or environmental challenges, one of the big contributors is food waste.
According to the United Nations, one-third of food produced for human consumption is lost or wasted globally. This amounts to about 1.3 billion tons of wasted food per year, worth approximately $1 trillion.
All the food produced but never eaten would be sufficient to feed two billion people. That’s more than twice the number of undernourished people across the globe. Consumers in rich countries waste almost as much food as the entire net food production of sub-Saharan Africa each year.
Solving World Hunger
While many people may not be “hungry” in the sense that they are suffering physical discomfort, they may still be food insecure, lacking regular access to enough safe and nutritious food for normal growth and development.
Estimates of how much money it would take to end world hunger range from $7 billion to $265 billion per year.
But to tackle the problem, investments must be utilized in the right places. Specialists say that governments and organizations need to provide food and humanitarian relief to the most at-risk regions, increase agricultural productivity, and invest in more efficient supply chains.
Globalization
Charted: The Industries Where Asian Companies are the Strongest
We look at the share of Asian companies in the top 3,000 global firms—measured by market capitalization in 2020—broken down by industry.

The Industries Where Asian Companies are the Strongest
The last 30 years of globalization have benefited Asia greatly.
As a result of deepening trade relations and access to other markets, Asian companies have grown in output and prominence. But which sectors do they excel in?
Using data from McKinsey Global Institute we visualize Asian companies’ share of the top 3,000 global companies, broken down by industry, revenue, and patent share.
A top 3,000 company was defined as having a market capitalization of over $5 billion in 2020.
Ranking Asia’s Strongest Industries
Unsurprisingly, among the top 3,000 companies globally, Asian companies are most prevalent in the manufacturing sector. Specifically, the region’s strength is in industries like consumer electronics, industrial electronics, electric vehicles, and semiconductors.
For many Asian countries, manufacturing is the bulwark of the economy. In Asia’s largest economy, China, the manufacturing sector accounts for nearly one-third of economic output. In Asia’s 13th largest economy, Vietnam, it accounts for almost one-fourth of gross domestic product.
However, manufacturing isn’t all what Asia is known for anymore. Here’s a full list of the top Asian companies’ share in various industries.
Industry | Asian Share of Top 3,000 Companies | Revenue Share (%) | Patent Share (%) |
---|---|---|---|
Consumer electronics | 69% | 64% | 77% |
Industrial electronics | 62% | 68% | 91% |
Electric vehicles | 67% | 45% | 96% |
Semiconductors | 57% | 45% | 54% |
Consumer internet | 39% | 32% | 12% |
Biopharma | 26% | 9% | 3% |
E-commerce | 22% | 31% | 50% |
Online payments | 19% | 17% | <1% |
Note: The top 3,000 companies list is industry agnostic; companies are classified by sector according to their main business.
Another fast-growing industry where Asian companies are thriving is in the consumer internet services space. Asia is home to half of the world’s internet users, which is driving innovation within the region’s online services industry.
And even though Asia is home to “only” 22% of e-commerce companies within the top 3,000, these firms accounted for 50% of patents granted.
Five Distinct “Asias”
Asia is of course a vast place, and for this reason McKinsey divides the Asia-Pacific region into five distinct “Asias” to get a more granular view. For the most part, they use UN country groupings here, though McKinsey notes it excludes parts of Western Asia (i.e. the Middle East) due to dissimilarities with other Asia-Pacific economies:
- Advanced Asia: High per-capita GDP, urbanization, and connectivity. Includes Australia, New Zealand, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore.
- China: 18% of global GDP and population.
- Emerging Asia: Southeast Asia, strong regional connections and trade. Includes Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand, and others.
- India: 18% of global population but only 3% of global GDP.
- Frontier Asia: Limited integration, large populations and potential. Includes Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and others.
McKinsey noted that the region is economically integrated—without formal political governance and despite sometimes being at odds with each territorially—with 59% of Asian trade done with other Asian countries.
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