Global Hunger Index 2021

India has slipped to 101st position in the Global Hunger Index (GHI) 2021 of 116 countries, from its 2020 position of 94th.

Context

India has slipped to 101st position in the Global Hunger Index (GHI) 2021 of 116 countries, from its 2020 position of 94th.

Annual Report: Published jointly by European NGOs of Concern Worldwide and Welthungerhilfe.
It began production in 2006. It is published every October.
The 2021 edition marks the 16th edition of the GHI.
Purpose: To fully measure and track poverty at the global, regional, and national levels.
Calculation: Calculated on the basis of four indicators:

Undernourishment: Share of the population with insufficient caloric intake.
Child wasting: Share of children under age five who have low weight for their height, reflecting acute undernutrition.
Child stunting: The proportion of children under the age of five with low birth weight, indicating chronic malnutrition.
Child Mortality: Child mortality rate under five years of age.

Scoring: Based on the values of the four indicators, GHI determines hunger by a score of 100 points where 0 is the best score (no hunger) and 100 is the worst.

The GHI score for each country is sharply divided, from the lowest to the most alarming.

Data Collection: Information on malnutrition is provided by the Food and Agriculture Organization and details of child mortality are available from the UN Inter-agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation (UN IGME).

Child wasting and stunting data are drawn from the joint database of UNICEF, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the World Bank, among others.

Since 2000, India has made substantial progress, but there are still areas of concern, particularly regarding child nutrition.
India's GHI score dropped from 2000 GHI with 38.8 points - considered a shock - to 2021 GHI 27.5 points - considered serious.
Although infant mortality has seen a dramatic decline - from 54.2% in 1998-1999 to 34.7% in 2016-2018 - it is still considered the highest.
At 17.3%, India has the highest rate of child wasting in all GHI countries. This rate is slightly higher than during 1998-1999, when it was 17.1%.
According to the Index, only 15 countries are worse off than India.
India was also behind many neighboring countries. Pakistan ranked 92nd, Nepal and Bangladesh 76 and Sri Lanka ranked 65th.