How many people died in large famines over the past 150 years?

Compared to earlier historical periods, fewer people have died in famines in recent decades. Here we show two bar charts using data from the World Peace Foundation’s famine dataset. The first chart shows the number of deaths from large famines. While the number of famine deaths has varied significantly from decade to decade depending on the occurrence of individual catastrophic famines, recent decades have seen low numbers of famine deaths by historical standards.

The sharp reduction in famine mortality represents "one of the great unacknowledged triumphs of our lifetime", as famine researcher, Alex de Waal describes it. As de Waal explains, a continued decline is by no means assured: the future of famine will depend largely on the nature and prevalence of war.

The geographic spread of famines has become smaller over time. There hasn’t been a large famine in North or South America since the late 19th century, and no large famine in Europe since the 1940s. Large famines in Asia have claimed many fewer lives in recent decades, even if they have not disappeared completely. This has meant that large famines recently have mostly been confined to Africa.