India, July 22 -- The share of undernourished Indians has more than halved over the past two decades, from 21.1 per cent in 2004-06 to 9.8 per cent in 2023-25 - a decline of roughly 101 million people, from 243.9 million to 142.5 million, according to a new United Nations (UN) report released on July 21, 2026.

Yet, a staggering 100 million people go hungry in the country. And hunger is only part of the picture; a second worrying trend is how many Indians simply cannot afford a healthy diet.

As of 2025, 520.1 million people, or 35.5 per cent of the population, fell into this category, according to the State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2026 report by UN's Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). The share of this figure in...