A prime ministerial aide has dismissed concerns over Pakistan’s hunger ranking, saying no one goes to sleep hungry in the country. The claim comes amid the 2026 Global Hunger Index report’s assessment of food insecurity and malnutrition.
ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN — WEB DESK: Prime Minister’s Adviser Rana Sanaullah has dismissed concerns about Pakistan’s position on the Global Hunger Index (GHI), describing criticism based on the report as “propaganda” and saying that, in his observation, no one in Pakistan goes to sleep hungry.
Sanaullah was asked who should be held responsible for Pakistan ranking 106th out of 122 countries in the 2026 index, compared with India at 100th. He questioned the reliance on international hunger reports and pointed to what he described as Pakistanis’ willingness to help people in need.
His remarks came after the 2026 Global Hunger Index placed Pakistan in the “serious” hunger category, with a score of 25.5. The report identifies continuing challenges involving undernourishment and child malnutrition.
What Rana Sanaullah said
Sanaullah urged people not to accept what he called propaganda based on hunger reports. He questioned whether the deprivation associated with hunger could be observed in Pakistani cities in the same way he said it was visible in some cities elsewhere.
He also contrasted conditions in Pakistan with those in India, referring to people sleeping on footpaths. He maintained that, as far as his own observation was concerned, no one in Pakistan slept hungry or on the streets.
These statements reflect Sanaullah’s assessment. They do not, by themselves, establish the prevalence of hunger or homelessness across the country.
What the 2026 Global Hunger Index says
The Global Hunger Index gives Pakistan a score of 25.5 out of 100 and ranks it 106th among 122 countries with sufficient data for the 2026 assessment. The report classifies the country’s hunger level as serious.
The report’s figures for Pakistan include:
- 16.1% of the population is undernourished.
- 33.6% of children under five are stunted, indicating impaired growth associated with chronic undernutrition.
- 9.8% of children under five are wasted, an indicator of acute undernutrition.
Pakistan’s score has improved over the longer term, falling from 36.2 in 2000 to 25.5 in 2026. However, the index indicates that hunger has worsened since 2018, highlighting the difference between long-term improvement and more recent setbacks.
How the index measures hunger
The Global Hunger Index assesses hunger using four indicators: undernourishment, child stunting, child wasting and child mortality among children under five. It combines these measures into a score intended to capture different dimensions of hunger and undernutrition rather than relying solely on whether people appear visibly hungry or are sleeping on the streets.
The index is based on the latest available data for its component indicators, which cover different reference periods. It should therefore not be interpreted as a real-time count of people who went hungry on a particular day in 2026. At the same time, the absence of real-time data does not negate the underlying indicators of undernourishment and child malnutrition.
Food insecurity goes beyond visible deprivation
Hunger and food insecurity can affect people who have housing and are not visibly living on the streets. Families may struggle to afford sufficient or nutritious food even when food is available in local markets.
Pakistan’s 2026 hunger assessment comes amid concerns about food affordability, economic pressures and climate-related shocks. Dawn’s reporting on the index identified rising food prices, reduced household purchasing power and flood-related crop losses among the pressures affecting food security.
The debate following Sanaullah’s comments therefore centres on two different issues: his assessment of community support and visible deprivation, and the index’s use of nutrition and child-health indicators to measure hunger.
