Everyone should be able to obtain nutritious food and safe water. Population growth can increase demand, but food insecurity is not determined by population size alone. Incomes, prices, distribution, diets, climate and public policy shape whether people can meet their needs. Understanding these connections helps us consider how to provide for people while protecting nature.

What is food security?

Food security means having reliable access to enough safe, nutritious food for a healthy life. The FAO’s framework distinguishes four connected dimensions: availability, access, utilisation and stability.

Producing enough food does not, by itself, ensure that every household can obtain it. People also need the resources to acquire food, the conditions to prepare and use it safely, and dependable access over time. Poor harvests, rising prices or lost income can disrupt that access.

Source: FAO, An Introduction to the Basic Concepts of Food Security.

How does population growth affect food demand?

A growing population can increase the amount of food required. The relationship also depends on what people eat, how food is produced and distributed, and how much is lost or wasted.

The IPCC identifies population and income growth, demand for animal-sourced foods and climate change among the interacting pressures on food systems. These factors do not operate in isolation. A single projected increase in food demand cannot tell us how much hunger there will be: that also depends on access, institutions and the choices made across food systems.

Source: IPCC, Climate Change and Land, chapter 5.

Is global hunger increasing?

The answer depends on the period and measure. FAO’s 2026 report release estimates that 645 million people faced hunger in 2025, with global hunger declining for a third consecutive year. Progress remained uneven across regions.

This measure of hunger is different from the broader measure of moderate or severe food insecurity. It should not be confused with the number of people unable to afford a healthy diet. Keeping those distinctions visible helps us understand both progress and unmet needs.

Source: FAO, The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2026 release, 21 July 2026.

Consumption and food systems matter

Population change is one part of the picture. Food production, diets and waste also affect environmental demand. The IPCC describes how changes towards lower-impact diets and reduced food waste can reduce food-system emissions and land requirements.

Responsibility should reflect consumption and the choices available to people. Those consuming more have greater scope to reduce excess; families struggling to obtain nutritious food need better access. Decisions about production, infrastructure and public support matter alongside individual choices.

Read the IPCC assessment and explore population and consumption.

How are food and water connected?

Water is needed to grow food as well as to support households, services and ecosystems. UN-Water’s September 2025 factsheet, citing FAO 2023, attributes 72% of global freshwater withdrawals to agriculture.

Withdrawals are water taken from sources; they are not the same as all freshwater resources or water permanently consumed. Agricultural demand, household needs, infrastructure and climate must be considered together when discussing water security.

Source: UN-Water, Water Facts, September 2025.

Water scarcity and safe drinking water are different questions

Physical water scarcity concerns the available resource. Safely managed drinking water comes from an improved source at home, is available when needed and is free from contamination. One measure cannot stand in for the other.

WHO and UNICEF’s 2025 update estimates that 2.1 billion people lacked safely managed drinking water in 2024. The reference year matters: this is not a live count. A population figure alone cannot explain which households lack a dependable service or what investment they need.

Source: WHO/UNICEF, Progress on household drinking-water, sanitation and hygiene 2000–2024.

Decisions that serve people and nature

The questions for governments, producers and communities include how to improve access, reduce loss and waste, protect ecosystems and build services that meet changing needs. Population evidence can inform those decisions alongside local knowledge, consumption patterns and environmental evidence.

Reproductive rights and bodily autonomy are ends in themselves. Everyone should be free to decide whether and when to have children, with access to healthcare, education and voluntary family planning services. Those rights must never be made conditional on a demographic or environmental outcome.

Population Matters examines the connections between population dynamics, sustainable development and the environment. Explore our world population facts and population figures and historical data to understand the evidence and its limits.

Reviewed 20 October 2026. Source dates and reference periods are given alongside the claims. Estimates and assessments may be revised.