Bangladesh has made sustained progress in combating hunger and malnutrition, outperforming India and Pakistan in the 2026 Global Hunger Index, while Pakistan’s food and nutrition situation has deteriorated, according to a report published last week.
Bangladesh scored 19.2 on the index, placing it in the moderate hunger category. India recorded a score of 24.1, classified as serious, while Pakistan scored 25.5, also indicating a serious hunger situation.
Sri Lanka and Nepal ranked ahead of Bangladesh in South Asia, according to the report.
The 2026 Global Hunger Index said India, Bangladesh and Nepal have recorded consistent improvements since 2000. Pakistan’s progress, however, has stalled and the country’s situation is worsening again.
Welthungerhilfe, a Bonn-based German organisation working to fight hunger; Helvetas, a Zurich-based Swiss aid organisation; and the Institute for International Law of Peace and Armed Conflict at Ruhr University in Germany jointly published the report.
Pakistan’s score of 25.5 was worse than its 2018 score of 24.0. The country ranked 106th among 122 countries included in the index.
Nearly a dozen countries recorded scores higher than Pakistan, including Afghanistan, Sierra Leone and Syria.
Experts identified increased employment opportunities for women, expanded health and social services, improved sanitation and greater access to education for girls as major factors behind Bangladesh’s progress.
Javed Hassan, a London-based financial analyst, told Japanese news outlet Nikkei Asia that Bangladesh had created employment opportunities for women in its ready-made garment export sector.
“Community health workers have delivered healthcare services door to door,” Hassan said. “Improvements in sanitation and expanded educational opportunities for girls have also contributed to progress.”
Niaz Murtaza, an independent economist based in Islamabad, said continued improvements in women’s employment had helped Bangladesh advance in addressing hunger.
Experts said India’s situation was not significantly different from Pakistan’s, despite India’s hunger score being marginally lower. Bangladesh, however, has made notable progress, they said.
The Global Hunger Index is calculated using four indicators: undernourishment, child mortality, child stunting and child wasting.
Undernourishment and child mortality each account for 33.3% of the index, while child stunting and child wasting each carry a weight of 16.7%.
Scores range from zero to 100. A score below 10 indicates low hunger; 10 to 19.9 moderate hunger; 20 to 34.9 serious hunger; 35 to 49.9 alarming hunger; and 50 or above extremely alarming hunger.
Pakistan’s score of 25.5 indicates a serious hunger situation, with the deterioration from its 2018 score of 24.0 raising concerns about the country’s food and nutrition conditions.