Nearly 1.6 crore people across 36 districts in Bangladesh are facing high levels of acute food insecurity, while 16 lakh children are acutely malnourished, according to an Integrated Food Security Phase Classification report.
The government and development partners released the IPC report at a national workshop in the capital Dhaka on Wednesday.
The food ministry, in collaboration with the Food and Agriculture Organisation, UNICEF, and the World Food Programme, alongside international non-government organisations Action Against Hunger and Save the Children organised the workshop.
According to the previous report, about 2.35 crore people were facing high levels of acute food insecurity in the country in 2024.
Officials said that the 2025 figure marked a significant improvement, attributing the progress to coordinated efforts by government ministries, humanitarian organisations and development agencies.
However, they stressed that sustained and strengthened action was essential for ensuring lasting progress.
According to the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics鈥� Population and Housing Census 2022, the enumerated population in Bangladesh was 16.52 crore in its 64 districts.
The IPC analysis, conducted in April 2025, estimated that between May and December 2025, about 1.6 crore people 鈥� 17 per cent of the 9.6 crore analysed 鈥� were facing crisis or worse levels of food insecurity.
Of them, 3.61 lakh people were in emergency conditions, requiring urgent humanitarian assistance to meet their basic food needs.
The highest levels of food insecurity were recorded in Cox鈥檚 Bazar, where host communities and Rohingya refugees 鈥� especially at Ukhia and Teknaf 鈥� showed that 30 per cent of the population was in the IPC Phase 3 which refers to a high level of acute food insecurity.
Other high-risk districts included Sunamganj, Barguna, Bandarban, Noakhali and Satkhira, where about one in four people faced similar conditions.
Among the Rohingya refugees in Cox鈥檚 Bazar and at Bhasan Char in Noakhali, approximately 4.5 lakh people 鈥� 40 per cent of the population analysed 鈥� were projected to experience a high level of food insecurity.
The analysis identified climatic shocks, such as the 2024 floods, as major drivers, along with economic instability, inflation and market volatility that eroded purchasing power.
Cuts in humanitarian funding by development partners for Rohingya refugees and increased living costs further aggravated the situation.
The IPC also found a growing nutrition crisis, revealing that 16 lakh children aged 6鈥�59 months were suffering or expected to suffer from acute malnutrition this year.
This included 1.44 lakh cases of severe acute malnutrition, a life-threatening condition, and 14 lakh cases of moderate acute malnutrition. Another 1.17 lakh pregnant and breastfeeding women were also likely to face acute malnutrition.
This is the first-ever IPC acute malnutrition analysis conducted in Bangladesh, covering 18 disaster-prone districts across seven divisions and Rohingya refugee camps.
Bangladesh is hosting more than 12 lakh Rohingyas, displaced people from the conflict-ridden Rakhine State of Myanmar.
Food secretary Md Masudul Hasan said that the government was providing 55 lakh families with food support that helped to improve the situation.
鈥業 hope the figure would come under 10 million by the next year,鈥� he said, referring to the people facing severe levels of acute food insecurity.
The IPC report鈥檚 key recommendations include delivering life-saving humanitarian aid, expanding shock-responsive social safety nets, providing emergency agricultural and livestock support and restoring livelihoods in flood-affected regions.
鈥楾he findings are concerning, particularly for the rural and coastal communities who are dependent on agriculture and fisheries,鈥� said Abu Tahir Muhammad Zaber, the fisheries and livestock secretary.
He suggested developing small-scale farming and working together. He also urged for reducing food waste.
The World Bank has recently revealed that one-third of all food produced is lost in Bangladesh, causing an enormous cost, equivalent to over 4 per cent of the gross domestic product.
Food planning and monitoring unit director general Mahbubur Rahman, World Food Programme deputy country director Simone Parchment, UNICEF representative Rana Flowers and FAO deputy representative Dia Sanou, among others, spoke at the event.