More than one million people already face crisis-level food insecurity, while emergency cases are expected to nearly double amid insecurity and weakened livelihoods
BEIRUT — NetNewsLedger International News Service – Approximately 1.05 million people in Lebanon are experiencing acute food insecurity at Crisis level or worse, according to a new assessment that projects further deterioration by mid-2027.
The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification estimates that 21% of the population it assessed will face Crisis or worse conditions between September 2026 and February 2027. That total includes 52,000 people in Emergency conditions, one step below Catastrophe on the IPC scale.
Between March and July 2027, the affected population is projected to reach 1.15 million, or 24% of those assessed. The number in Emergency conditions could rise to 97,000.
The current total is below the 1.24 million recorded during the height of Lebanon’s displacement crisis earlier this year. UN agencies cautioned that the decline does not represent a secure recovery. Conflict conditions and displacement have changed, but household purchasing power, employment opportunities and coping resources remain severely constrained.
Lebanese residents, Syrian refugees, Palestine refugees and recently displaced people are all affected, although at different rates. The assessment found Crisis or worse conditions among 18% of Lebanese residents, 28% of long-term Syrian refugees and 35% of Palestine refugees. The rate reaches 45% among people who arrived from Syria after December 2024.
The crisis reflects the cumulative impact of two military escalations in less than two years, alongside Lebanon’s prolonged economic collapse and rising living costs. Food agencies are calling for continued emergency assistance as well as investment in farming, rural incomes and other livelihoods.
Without that support, families that have relied on savings, borrowing or reduced spending could be pushed into more severe hunger by even a modest new shock.
Sources: IPC Lebanon assessment; UN agencies’ joint release;
