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    Hunger and poverty tracker 2025-26: SNAP, poverty data, famine

    The World Bank estimated in September 2026 that more than 824 million people lived in extreme poverty in 2024, and Census reported a 10.2% official US poverty rate for 2025.[1][2] In the US, SNAP has been reshaped by the 2025 reconciliation law: states now pay 75% of administrative costs and face benefit cost sharing from October 2027, which a Senate farm bill would delay.[3][4][5] Globally, hunger eased in 2025 but famine risks persist in Sudan, South Sudan and Somalia.[6][7]

    Editor reviewedStrict sourcingUpdated DevelopingSocial welfare, Tech policy, World affairs

    What we know

    • More than 824 million people (10.1%) lived in extreme poverty in 2024; the World Bank projects 9.8% for 2026[1]
    • The UN says progress on SDG 1 has stalled, with about 9% of people projected to remain extremely poor in 2030[9]
    • US official poverty fell to 10.2% in 2025; the Supplemental Poverty Measure was unchanged at 13.1%[11]
    • An estimated 645 million people were chronically undernourished in 2025, 7.8% of the world[6]
    • USDA's report on 2024 is its last annual food security report; 13.7% of US households were food insecure that year[12]
    • States pay 75% of SNAP administrative costs from 1 October 2026[3]
    • State SNAP benefit cost sharing starts 1 October 2027 under current law; USDA had not issued implementing guidance as of October 2026[25]
    • A risk of famine was identified in Somalia, South Sudan and Sudan in the September 2026 food crises update[7]

    What we don't know yet

    • Whether the full Senate and the House will agree a farm bill, and whether it delays SNAP cost sharing to October 2028
    • How USDA will calculate and collect state cost shares, and how many states cut their FY2026 payment error rates below 6%
    • How many people have left SNAP under the expanded work requirements, since national counts by provision are not yet published
    • What will replace USDA's annual food security estimates as a national measure of hunger
    • How the 2026 Middle East conflict and aid cuts will affect global poverty and hunger estimates for 2026
    Story status

    Story status

    State
    developing
    Started
    2025-06-05
    Timeline entries
    18
    Last entry

    Timeline data (JSON)

    This tracker follows hunger and poverty developments from June 2025 to 11 October 2026, with every entry tied to a sourced claim. It covers global poverty and hunger estimates, US poverty data and the changes to SNAP.[1][2][8] It is not legal or financial advice. Benefit rules vary by state, so check with your state agency.

    Where things stand

    Globally, the World Bank’s September 2026 update estimates more than 824 million people, about one in ten, lived on under $3.00 a day in 2024.[1] The UN says progress has stalled and about 9% of people may still be extremely poor in 2030.[9] Hunger eased: 645 million people were chronically undernourished in 2025, 7.8% of the world, down from 8.6% in 2022.[6] The UN warns that conflict in the Middle East, weather extremes and aid cuts threaten that progress.[10]

    In the US, the official poverty rate fell to 10.2% in 2025, while the Supplemental Poverty Measure held at 13.1%.[2][11] The last USDA annual estimate found 13.7% of households food insecure in 2024.[12]

    SNAP under the 2025 law

    The reconciliation law extended SNAP’s time limit to adults up to 64 and to parents of children 14 and older.[13] CBO projects 2.4 million fewer participants in an average month over 2025-2034.[14] States began paying 75% of administrative costs on 1 October 2026. Under current law, those with payment error rates of 6% or more pay 5-15% of benefit costs from 1 October 2027.[3][4] The Senate Agriculture Committee’s farm bill would delay that to October 2028, while the House-passed bill keeps current law.[5][15] Details are in the SNAP changes explainer.

    The shutdown lapse

    The November 2025 shutdown produced the first interruption to SNAP benefits in the programme’s history. USDA said no benefits would be issued on 1 November.[16] After court orders, the administration paid partial benefits from the contingency fund.[17][18] The 12 November funding law ended the shutdown and funded SNAP for the rest of fiscal 2026.[19]

    Data gaps

    USDA’s decision to end its annual food security report removes a series that ran every year since 1995.[20][21] USDA says other data sets are more timely, and critics say none is as detailed.[22][23] Watch the UN’s 17 October poverty day, the farm bill and USDA guidance on cost sharing next.[24][25] For background, start with the poverty crash course.

    Timeline

    17 confirmed1 reported

    1. confirmed

      UN prepares 17 October poverty day on "Safe Homes for All"[24][39]

      The UN says more than 2.8 billion people face some form of housing inadequacy.

    2. confirmed

      States start paying 75% of SNAP administrative costs[3]

    3. confirmed

      World Bank puts 2024 extreme poverty at 824 million[1][37][38]

    4. confirmed

      Food crises update flags famine risk in three countries[7][36]

      About 327,000 people are expected to face Catastrophe in 2026, down from 1.4 million in 2025.

    5. confirmed

      Senate committee advances farm bill delaying SNAP cost sharing[5][15]

      S. 5526 would move the start to 1 October 2028 and raise the top state share to 20% from FY2031.

    6. confirmed

      Census reports 2025 US poverty at 10.2% official, 13.1% SPM[2][11][35]

      Official child poverty falls to a record low of 13.4%.

    7. reported

      Feeding America's Map the Meal Gap 2026[33][34]

      Feeding America estimates nearly half of food-insecure people have incomes too high for SNAP.

    8. confirmed

      USDA publishes FY2025 SNAP payment error rates[31][32]

      Released in June 2026. CRS says most states would share benefit costs on these rates.

    9. confirmed

      Final USDA food security report shows 13.7% of households food insecure in 2024[12][30][23]

      47.9 million people lived in food-insecure households. CSIS's analysis of the last report appeared on this date.

    10. confirmed

      Shutdown ends; SNAP funded for fiscal 2026[19][29]

      The funding law ends the 43-day shutdown and reimburses SNAP and WIC contingency reserves.

    11. confirmed

      Administration says it will pay 50% of November SNAP[18]

      It uses the remaining $4.65 billion contingency fund and later supports 65%.

    12. confirmed

      No SNAP benefits issued on 1 November[16]

      About 42 million recipients are affected, the first such interruption in the programme's history.

    13. confirmed

      Courts order use of SNAP contingency funds[17]

      Federal judges in Massachusetts and Rhode Island rule the administration must pay at least partial benefits.

    14. confirmed

      Federal government shutdown begins[28]

    15. confirmed

      USDA ends its annual Household Food Security reports[21][22]

      USDA calls the reports redundant and costly; the 2024 report is the last.

    16. confirmed

      Famine confirmed in Gaza Governorate[27]

      The IPC analysis is the first confirmed famine in the Middle East.

    17. confirmed

      2025 reconciliation law reshapes SNAP[8][13]

      Public Law 119-21 widens SNAP work requirements, limits noncitizen eligibility and adds state cost sharing. CBO estimates nutrition savings of almost $187 billion over ten years.

    18. confirmed

      World Bank raises the international poverty line to $3.00 a day[26]

      The new line, in 2021 prices, replaces the $2.15 line.

    Developing in World & Policy

    Sources

    · 39 claims from 18 publishers

    Each numbered claim is a statement we checked against the sources listed with it. Tap a number in the text to see its sources in place.

    1. [1]

      In its September 2026 update, the World Bank estimated that more than 824 million people, about one in ten worldwide, lived in extreme poverty (under $3.00 a day) in 2024. confirmedas of 2026-09-22

    2. [2]

      The official US poverty rate fell 0.5 percentage points to 10.2% in 2025, with 34.5 million people in poverty, down 1.5 million from 2024. confirmedas of 2026-09-15

    3. [3]

      SNAP benefits have historically been fully federally funded and administrative costs split about 50-50; the 2025 law raised states' share of administrative costs to 75% from 1 October 2026, and the Senate committee's farm bill would not change that. confirmedas of 2026-10-05

    4. [4]

      From FY2028 (1 October 2027), states with SNAP payment error rates of 6% to under 8% must pay 5% of benefit costs, 8% to under 10% pay 10%, and 10% or more pay 15%; states under 6% pay nothing. confirmedas of 2026-10-05

    5. [5]

      The Senate Agriculture Committee advanced a 2026 farm bill (S. 5526) on 16 September 2026 that would delay state SNAP benefit cost-sharing by one year, to 1 October 2028, and raise the top state share from 15% to 20% from FY2031; the House-passed farm bill (H.R. 7567) keeps current law. confirmedas of 2026-10-05

    6. [6]

      An estimated 645 million people, 7.8% of the world's population, were chronically undernourished in 2025, down from 8.6% in 2022 and slightly below the 2015 level of 8.0%. confirmedas of 2026-10-11

    7. [7]

      The September 2026 mid-year update of the Global Report on Food Crises found about 327,000 people expected to face Catastrophe (IPC/CH Phase 5) in 2026, down from 1.4 million in 2025, with a risk of famine in Somalia, South Sudan and Sudan, and in Gaza through April 2026. confirmedas of 2026-09-21

    8. [8]

      The FY2025 budget reconciliation law (Public Law 119-21, sometimes called the One Big Beautiful Bill Act) was enacted on 4 July 2025; CBO estimated its nutrition provisions would cut federal spending by almost $187 billion over FY2025-FY2034. confirmedas of 2025-08-15

    9. [9]

      The UN's Sustainable Development Goals Report 2026 says progress on extreme poverty has stalled, with the rate at 10% in 2026, only three percentage points below 2015, and about 9% of the world projected to remain in extreme poverty in 2030. confirmedas of 2026-10-11

    10. [10]

      The UN warns that the 2026 conflict in the Middle East, weather extremes and cuts in development and humanitarian funding threaten progress against hunger. confirmedas of 2026-10-11

    11. [11]

      The Supplemental Poverty Measure rate was 13.1% in 2025, not statistically different from 2024 and 2.9 percentage points above the comparable official rate. confirmedas of 2026-09-15

    12. [12]

      USDA estimated that 13.7% of US households (18.3 million) were food insecure at some time during 2024, not statistically different from 13.5% in 2023. confirmedas of 2026-01-05

    13. [13]

      The 2025 law extends SNAP's time limit to adults aged 18 to 64 and to parents whose youngest dependent child is 14 or older, and removes the exemptions for veterans, people experiencing homelessness and former foster youth; it adds exemptions for American Indians. confirmedas of 2025-08-15

    14. [14]

      CBO estimated the time-limit changes would reduce SNAP participation by 2.4 million people in an average month over 2025-2034. reportedas of 2025-08-15· forecast

    15. [15]

      The House-passed 2026 farm bill (H.R. 7567) has no provision changing SNAP federal-state cost sharing. confirmedas of 2026-10-05

    16. [16]

      USDA said no SNAP benefits would be issued on 1 November 2025 because of the shutdown, the first such delay in the program's history, affecting about 42 million recipients. confirmedas of 2025-11-01

    17. [17]

      On 31 October 2025 federal judges in Massachusetts and Rhode Island ruled that the administration must use SNAP contingency funds to pay at least partial benefits. confirmedas of 2025-11-03

    18. [18]

      On 3 November 2025 the administration told the Rhode Island court it would use the remaining $4.65 billion SNAP contingency fund to pay 50% of November allotments, declining to tap child nutrition funds for full payments. confirmedas of 2025-11-03

    19. [19]

      President Trump signed a funding bill on 12 November 2025 ending the record 43-day shutdown; it funds USDA, including SNAP, for all of fiscal 2026 and reimburses the SNAP and WIC contingency reserves used during the shutdown. confirmedas of 2025-11-12

    20. [20]

      USDA had run the household food security survey every year since 1995. confirmedas of 2026-01-05

    21. [21]

      In September 2025 USDA announced it would end its annual Household Food Security reports, calling them "redundant, costly, politicized, and extraneous"; the report on 2024 is the last. confirmedas of 2026-01-05

    22. [22]

      USDA said food insecurity had stayed virtually unchanged despite an over 87% rise in SNAP spending from 2019 to 2023, and that it would use other, more timely data sets. confirmedas of 2025-09-22

    23. [23]

      Critics including the Alliance to End Hunger and CSIS's Global Food and Water Security Program said ending the report removes the main national gauge of food insecurity; CSIS notes Census's Household Pulse Survey asks only one food-sufficiency question. reportedas of 2026-01-05· interpretation

    24. [24]

      The UN observes the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty each year on 17 October; the 2026 observance focuses on "Safe Homes for All" under the 2026-2028 theme "United for Peace and Human Rights". confirmedas of 2026-10-11

    25. [25]

      As of October 2026, CRS said USDA had not issued regulations or guidance on how state SNAP cost-sharing will be implemented. confirmedas of 2026-10-05

    26. [26]

      In June 2025 the World Bank raised the international poverty line, used to measure extreme poverty, to $3.00 per person per day in 2021 purchasing power parity terms, replacing the $2.15 line based on 2017 prices. confirmedas of 2025-06-05

    27. [27]

      On 22 August 2025 an IPC analysis confirmed famine in Gaza Governorate, the first famine officially confirmed in the Middle East, with more than half a million people trapped in famine. confirmedas of 2025-08-22

    28. [28]

      A federal government shutdown began on 1 October 2025. confirmedas of 2025-11-12

    29. [29]

      The administration later supported paying 65% of November benefits, and the Supreme Court paused a judge's order to pay full benefits while Congress worked to end the shutdown; some states paid full benefits. confirmedas of 2025-11-12

    30. [30]

      In 2024, 47.9 million people, including 33.8 million adults, lived in food-insecure households. confirmedas of 2026-01-05

    31. [31]

      USDA released FY2025 state payment error rates in June 2026; CRS says most states would share benefit costs if those rates held. confirmedas of 2026-10-05

    32. [32]

      Ballotpedia counts nine states with FY2025 error rates below 6%, which would pay no benefit share in FY2028 - Idaho, Iowa, Kentucky, Nebraska, South Dakota, Utah, Vermont, Wisconsin and Wyoming. reportedas of 2026-10-11

    33. [33]

      Feeding America's Map the Meal Gap 2026 estimates that nearly half of people experiencing food insecurity in 2024 had incomes too high to qualify for SNAP. reportedas of 2026-07-28

    34. [34]

      Feeding America estimates the national average cost per meal was $3.70 in 2024 and the national food budget shortfall exceeded $33 billion. reportedas of 2026-07-28

    35. [35]

      The official child poverty rate fell 1.0 percentage point to a historic low of 13.4% in 2025, and the rate for Hispanic people fell to a historic low of 13.9%. confirmedas of 2026-09-15

    36. [36]

      Of 33 countries and territories with data comparable to 2025, conditions improved in 17 and deteriorated in 15, especially Bangladesh, Kenya, Madagascar, Nigeria and Somalia. confirmedas of 2026-09-21

    37. [37]

      Compared with its March 2026 estimates, the World Bank revised the 2024 global extreme poverty rate down from about 10.4% (846.8 million people) to 10.1% (824.3 million), mainly because a new survey replaced an extrapolation for South Asia. confirmedas of 2026-09-22

    38. [38]

      The World Bank projects global extreme poverty to fall marginally from 10.1% in 2024 to 9.8% in 2026, based on nowcasts from June 2026 economic projections. reportedas of 2026-09-22· forecast

    39. [39]

      The UN says more than 2.8 billion people worldwide face some form of housing inadequacy. confirmedas of 2026-10-11

    Revision history (1)
    1. Page created.

    Created Oct 11, 2026. Last reviewed by an editor on Oct 11, 2026. Next scheduled review: Oct 17, 2026.

    Cite this page

    "Hunger and poverty tracker 2025-26: SNAP, poverty data, famine." ContentLora, updated Oct 11, 2026. https://contentlora.com/events/hunger-and-poverty-tracker

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