October 17, 2020: India now ranks 94th among 107 countries in terms of hunger below Nepal (73), Bangladesh (75), Myanmar (78) and Pakistan (88), and continues to be in the ‘severe’ hunger category according to the Global Hunger Index 2020. According to the study, 14% of India’s population is undernourished.

Last year, India's rank was 102 out of 117 countries.

Nepal in 73rd and Sri Lanka in 64th position are in 'moderate' hunger category, the report showed.

Bangladesh, Myanmar and Pakistan too are in the 'serious' category but ranked higher than India in this year's hunger index.

Seventeen nations, including China, Belarus, Ukraine, Turkey, Cuba and Kuwait, shared the top rank with GHI scores of less than five, the website of the Global Hunger Index, that tracks hunger and malnutrition, said on Friday.

The GHI report, which reflects data from 2015-19, was jointly prepared by Welthungerhilfe and Concern Worldwide. GHI values are determined by four indicators – undernourishment (share of population whose caloric intake is not sufficient), child wasting (children, below the age of five, who have low weight for their height), child stunting (children, below the age of five, who have low height for their weight) and child mortality (mortality rate of children below the age of five).

It showed India recorded a 37.4 per cent stunting rate among children under five and a wasting rate of 17.3 per cent. The under-five mortality rate stood at 3.7 per cent.