India ranks 94th on Global Hunger Index, below Pak, Nepal and Bangladesh

New Delhi, Oct 17: India ranked 94th among 107 countries on the Global Hunger Index 2020 that tracks hunger levels and malnutrition across the world.

Notably, India ranks below neighbours Pakistan (88), Nepal (73), Bangladesh (75) and Sri Lanka (64).

Only 13 countries fare worse than India including countries like Rwanda (97), Nigeria (98), Afghanistan (99), Liberia (102), Mozambique (103), Chad (107) among others.

According to the report, 14 per cent of the country's population is undernourished, and with an overall score of 27.2, India is in the "serious" category.

The report says that the country recorded a child stunting rate of 37.4 per cent. Stunted children are those who have a "low height for their age, reflecting chronic undernutrition".

"Data from 1991 through 2014 for Bangladesh, India, Nepal, and Pakistan showed that stunting is concentrated among children from households facing multiple forms of deprivation, including poor dietary diversity, low levels of maternal education, and household poverty," the GHI report stated.

"In many countries the situation is improving too slowly, while in others it is worsening. For 46 countries in the moderate, serious, or alarming categories, GHI scores have improved since 2012, but for 14 countries in those categories, GHI scores show that hunger and undernutrition have worsened. The latest GHI projections show that 37 countries will fail to achieve even low hunger by 2030," the report said.

The Global Hunger Index is a peer-reviewed annual report, jointly published by Concern Worldwide and Welthungerhilfe, designed to comprehensively measure and track hunger at the global, regional, and country levels.

India's rank was 102 out of 117 countries last year, 2019.

In 2018, India ranked 103 among 119 countries on the global hunger index.