The 2011 Global Hunger Index (GHI) is calculated for 122 developing countries and countries in transition for which data on the three components of hunger are available.

This year’s GHI reflects data from 2004 to 2009—the most recent available country-level data on the three GHI components. It is thus a snapshot not of the present, but of the recent past.

The Index combines three equally weighted indicators into one score: the proportion of people who are undernourished, the proportion of children under five who are underweight, and the under-five child mortality rate.

An increase in a country’s GHI score indicates that the hunger situation is worsening, while a decrease in the score indicates an improvement in the country’s hunger situation.

The 2011 world GHI fell by 26 percent from the 1990 world GHI, from a score of 19.7 to 14.6.

Gabon had the best/lowest 2011 GHI score, followed by Mauritius & Paraguay (tied/same score), China, El Salvador & the Kyrgyz Republic (three-way tie), Trinidad and Tobago, Colombia, and Morocco & Peru (also tied).

South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa have the highest hunger levels, with regional scores of 22.6 and 20.5, respectively.

From the 1990 GHI to the 2011 GHI, 15 countries reduced their scores by 50 percent or more.

Between the 1990 GHI and the 2011 GHI, 19 countries moved out of the bottom two categories— “extremely alarming” and alarming.”

In terms of absolute progress, Angola, Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Mozambique, Nicaragua, Niger, and Vietnam saw the greatest improvements in their scores from the 1990 to 2011 GHI.

In terms of percentage decrease in GHI scores from the 1990 GHI to the 2011 GHI, the following countries saw the greatest improvements, beginning with the most improved: Kuwait, Turkey, Malaysia, Mexico, Islamic Republic of Iran, Albania, Peru, Nicaragua, Ghana, and Fiji.

From the 1990 GHI to the 2011 GHI, the hunger situation worsened in six countries, in the following order, in terms of percentage increase in GHI score: the Democratic Republic of Congo, Burundi, North Korea, the Comoros, Swaziland, and Cote d’Ivoire.

Among these six countries, the DRC stands out. Its GHI score rose by about 63 percent.

The 2011 report contains not only the 2011 and 1990 GHI, but also GHI scores for two other reference periods—1996 and 2001—that are comparable with one another.