The estimated number of hungry people in the world is down to one in eight, according to the Food and Agricultural Organisation in Rome.
The UN agency says 842 million people - 12% of the world's population - did not have enough food in 2010 - 2012, down from 868 million.
In terms of numbers, Southern Asia had the highest number of undernourished people - 295 million - followed by sub-Saharan Africa with 223 million and Eastern Asia with 167 million, the agency said in a report issued on Tuesday.
The FAO said it now appeared possible to attain the United Nations millenium development goal of halving world hunger from the level in 1990 by 2015.
The main reasons were higher economic growth in developing countries, an increase in farm productivity rates and more private and public investments in agriculture.
