Dhaka, Oct 11 (V7N): Bangladesh has fallen to 84th place out of 127 countries in this year’s Global Hunger Index (GHI), with a score of 19.4. In comparison, the country ranked 81st last year with a score of 19. Despite this ranking decline, Bangladesh's hunger situation is still categorized as "moderate."

The 2024 GHI report indicates improvements since 2016, when the country had a higher score of 24.7. GHI scores are determined by four key factors: undernourishment, child stunting, child wasting, and child mortality.

Currently, 11.9% of Bangladesh's population is undernourished, and 2.9% of children die before reaching the age of five. Additionally, malnutrition has caused stunted growth in 23.6% of children under five, while 11% suffer from wasting.

The GHI uses a 100-point scale, where 0 indicates no hunger and 100 represents the most severe levels. Each country’s score is categorized according to the gravity of hunger, ranging from low to extremely alarming.

In South Asia, Sri Lanka ranks 56th, Nepal 68th, followed by Bangladesh. India is positioned at 105th and Pakistan at 109th. The report emphasizes that South Asia faces a "severe" hunger crisis, driven by economic difficulties, natural disasters, and malnutrition, with 282 million people in the region undernourished.

Globally, hunger is classified as "alarming" in six countries: Burundi, Chad, Madagascar, Somalia, South Sudan, and Yemen. Hunger levels are severe in 36 countries, while 22 countries have very low levels of hunger.

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