New Delhi, October 16: India, the nation with second highest population in the world, was placed at the 94th spot out of 107 countries in the Global Hunger Index (GHI) report 2020. Neighbours in the South Asia region - Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nepal fared better than India in the rankings released by GHI in its annual report. World Bank Issues Warning, Says 150 Million People Likely to be in Extreme Poverty by 2021 Due to COVID-19 Pandemic.

While India's position has improved as compared to the previous year, when it was placed on the 102nd spot, it should also be noted that a total of 117 countries were listed in the 2019 report. The rankings of consecutive years have placed India under the "serious" category.

The GHI report of this year has claimed that 14 percent of India's population is undernourished. The rate of stunting among children was recorded as 37.4 per cent.

"Data from 1991 through 2014 for Bangladesh, India, Nepal, and Pakistan showed that stunting is concentrated among children from households facing multiple forms of deprivation, including poor dietary diversity, low levels of maternal education, and household poverty,” the GHI report stated.

Countries which have fared the best in the Hunger Index, and have been included in the top bracket ranking of 1-17, includes Belarus, Russia, China, Cuba, Kuwait, Turkey, Romania, Ukraine and Brazil, among others. The country which has fared the worst is Chad. Check full list of rankings here.

Notably, the Global Hunger Index is a compiled and jointly published by Concern Worldwide and Welthungerhilfe. It ranks the countries based on four factors - undernourishment, child stunting, child wasting and child mortality. The report gains credence through as it goes through critical and holistic peer review before publication.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Oct 17, 2020 12:31 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).