Published on
17/07/2026 - 7:00 GMT+2
The global cost of a healthy diet has increased 25% over the past five years, exceeding the extreme poverty line — living on less than $3.00 (€2,62) a day — the United Nations warned.
“As a result, 2.69 billion people, almost one in every three people in the world, still cannot afford a healthy diet,” said Máximo Torero Cullen, chief economist of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) at the United Nations, speaking to reporters ahead of the launch of the State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World report on 21 July.
He added that the current cost of a healthy diet, one that meets all nutritional needs, is 4.28 per person per day, adjusted for differences in the cost of living between countries, which is over the extreme poverty line —an international standard to measure absolute poverty – which is set at$3 (€2,62) per person per day.
