Previous Year Question

The Global Hunger Index uses four indicators to capture the multidimensional nature of hunger:

1. Undernourishment: The proportion of the total population whose regular caloric intake is insufficient to meet minimum dietary-energy requirements.

2. Child wasting: The proportion of children below five years with low weight for their height. It primarily reflects acute undernutrition.

3. Child stunting: The proportion of children below five years with low height for their age. It reflects chronic undernutrition.

4. Child mortality: The mortality rate of children below five years. It partly reflects the fatal interaction of inadequate nutrition and unhealthy living conditions.

All three indicators mentioned in the question—undernourishment, child stunting and child mortality—are components of the GHI. The fourth indicator, child wasting, has simply not been included in the list; its omission does not make any of the listed indicators incorrect.

Weighting and calculation

The four indicators do not receive equal weights:

• Undernourishment: 1/3

• Child mortality: 1/3

• Child stunting: 1/6

• Child wasting: 1/6

Thus, each of the three dimensions—inadequate food supply, child undernutrition and child mortality—effectively receives one-third weight. The resulting GHI score is expressed on a 0–100 scale, with a lower score indicating a better situation.

Current position (2026)

As of September 2026, the latest available 2025 GHI methodology continues to use the same four indicators. However, the reference periods of the underlying data differ:

• Undernourishment: 2022–2024

• Child wasting: the latest available observation from 2020–2024

• Child stunting: 2024

• Child mortality: 2023

Consequently, a “2025 GHI score” does not mean that every component is based exclusively on data collected in 2025.