India ranked 100th among 122 countries, while Pakistan stood at 106th.
The report recorded undernourishment among 9.8% of India’s population and 19% child wasting.
Child stunting stood at 29.3%, while under-five mortality was recorded at 2.7%.
India Behind Bangladesh And Nepal In Global Hunger Index: What The Numbers Show
The index put stunting among children under five at 29.3% and wasting at 19%. India’s under-five mortality rate stood at 2.7%. South Asia recorded a GHI score of 23.5, compared with the global score of 18.1
Summary
India ranked 100th among 122 countries in the 2026 Global Hunger Index (GHI), ahead of Pakistan at 106th, with the report recording undernourishment among 9.8% of India’s population.
The index put stunting among children under five at 29.3% and wasting at 19%. India’s under-five mortality rate stood at 2.7%. South Asia recorded a GHI score of 23.5, compared with the global score of 18.1.
India’s score of 24.1 placed it in the “serious” hunger category, behind Nepal, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh but ahead of Pakistan.
Nepal’s score improved from 18.4 in 2018 to 14.5 in 2026, a decline of 3.9 points compared with India’s 1.7-point reduction. Sri Lanka’s score fell from 11.4 to 10.2, while Bangladesh’s declined from 20.0 to 19.2. Both remained in the “moderate” category.
Pakistan’s score worsened from 24.0 to 25.5 over the same period. It ranked 106th, below India at 100th.
Bangladesh also recorded better child nutrition indicators than India. Child wasting stood at 12.9%, compared with India’s 19%, while stunting was 24%, against 29.3% in India. Undernourishment affected 8.2% of Bangladesh’s population, compared with 9.8% in India.
The GHI combines four indicators: undernourishment, child stunting, child wasting and child mortality. It is intended to track hunger over time and allow comparisons between countries and regions.
Undernourishment measures the share of people whose calorie intake is insufficient. Stunting refers to low height for age among children under five, while wasting measures low weight for height. Child mortality records deaths before the fifth birthday.
Each indicator is standardised against benchmark thresholds set just above the highest country-level figures recorded worldwide since 1988 before being incorporated into the overall score.
The index is released jointly by Germany’s Welthungerhilfe and Ireland’s Concern Worldwide, alongside partner institutions including the Institute for International Law of Peace and Armed Conflict and Switzerland’s Helvetas.
Centre Has Questioned Methodology
Minister of State for Women and Child Development Savitri Thakur questioned the index’s methodology in a Rajya Sabha response on August 5, 2026, calling it “a private construct published by 3 Non Government Organizations”.
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Three of its four indicators, she said, “are actually related to health and nourishment levels in children” and “do not reflect prevalence of hunger in the overall population”.
Thakur also challenged the undernourishment indicator, saying it “suffers from significant methodological and data limitations”. The methodology, she added, “is unreliable and it cannot be taken to reflect hunger in the overall population”.
Government Points To Food And Nutrition Schemes
Thakur cited the reach of government programmes, saying about 79.09 crore people receive free grain under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana.
The scheme “substantially supplements the food requirements of up to 75% of the rural and up to 50% of the urban population”, she said.
PM POSHAN covers approximately 11.20 crore children across 10.36 lakh schools, according to her response. Mission Poshan 2.0 addresses malnutrition through “cross cutting convergence amongst more than 18 Ministries/Departments”, she added.
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The minister also cited National Family Health Survey findings showing improvements in child malnutrition indicators across the country.
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