Mexico Reduces Food Insecurity; One-Third of Households Struggle

There has been progress in reducing food difficulties caused by a lack of resources in Mexican households. However, one-third of the population still suffers from food insecurity, and malnutrition continues to affect vulnerable groups such as Indigenous and rural communities.

According to a study conducted by BBVA Research, between 2018 and 2024 there was a noticeable reduction in the number of households struggling to access food. Overall, the share of households that experienced at least one food-related difficulty due to lack of money or resources fell from 46.6% (16 million households) to 33.1% (12.9 million households), representing a drop of more than 13%.

Similarly, fewer households reported having to reduce their food consumption during the same period, either because they ran out of food, skipped meals, or ate less than expected. This issue affected 8 million households in 2018, compared to 5.6 million in 2024.

Nevertheless, in 2024 about 10% of households in Mexico reported that at least one adult felt hungry but did not eat. In 2018, 3.7 million households reported that, due to lack of resources, at least one adult ate only once a day or even went an entire day without eating. This number dropped to 2.7 million in 2024.

The study concludes that while food difficulties have significantly declined, likely due to improvements in household economic conditions, 33.1% of households in the country still face challenges in accessing food. Regarding poverty measurement, the report also suggests revising the current methodology to achieve more accurate results.

BBVA Research notes that in 2024, some people experienced hunger-related problems without being classified as poor, while others living in poverty did not necessarily experience hunger. “There are aspects that need to be reviewed; why do some people who are not poor still face hunger? This could be related to household spending management, market factors, or discrepancies between real and reported income,” the report states.

The data published by BBVA aligns with the findings of INEGI’s 2024 Multidimensional Poverty Measurement. Although the institute confirms a decline in the percentage of families suffering from hunger, it highlights persistent problems, such as households that reduce the quality or variety of their meals, an issue affecting 9.8% of the population in 2024.

INEGI also emphasizes that place of residence remains a major determinant. In rural areas, 21.6% of the population faces difficulties accessing nutritious food, compared to 12.4% in urban zones. This shows that even in agricultural regions, economic constraints and transportation challenges continue to limit what actually reaches households.

According to World Vision Mexico (WVM), the most affected group, with 37%, are Indigenous children and adolescents who live in constant mobility, face child labor, homelessness, extreme poverty, and belong to migrant farmworker families.

In the context of World Food Day, celebrated on Oct. 16, Malcolm Aquiles, WVM’s Director of Public Policy Advocacy, Mobilization, and Safeguarding, highlighted the organization’s efforts to address inequalities that prevent children from accessing adequate food. “It is not enough to serve three meals a day; they must contain the nutrients essential for children’s development. We must fight both hunger and its opposite, overweight and obesity, which can lead to chronic diseases in the future,” he said.