In his briefing to the UN Security Council, the United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, Tom Fletcher, highlighted an alarming deterioration in Yemen’s humanitarian and economic conditions amid the protracted conflict, declining international funding, and a widening humanitarian needs gap. The following indicators illustrate the scale of the crisis facing the country in 2026:

1. More than 18.3 million people are facing acute food insecurity: An estimated 46 percent of Yemen’s population is suffering from acute hunger, equivalent to nearly one in every two people, with more than five million households affected by the food crisis.
2. Approximately 2.2 million children are suffering from malnutrition: Among them, around 537,000 children are affected by severe acute malnutrition, accounting for nearly a quarter of children under the age of five and posing a serious threat to Yemen’s future human capital.
3. Humanitarian funding shortfall exceeds $2.1 billion: The 2026 Humanitarian Response Plan requires approximately $2.5 billion, yet available funding had met no more than 15 percent of total requirements by mid-year, resulting in an unprecedented widening of the funding gap.
4. International aid has declined by more than 60 percent: The volume of humanitarian funding has fallen by more than 60 percent compared with the early years of the conflict, after exceeding $4 billion in some years, dropping to less than half those levels in recent years.
5. More than 17.8 million people require access to health services: This comes at a time when more than half of Yemen’s healthcare facilities are operating only partially or facing severe shortages of resources and medical supplies.
6. Yemen’s economy has lost more than half of its productive capacity: Estimates by international institutions indicate that real GDP has contracted by more than 50 percent compared with pre-war levels. In comparison, poverty rates have risen to over 80 percent of the population.
7. More than 19 million people require humanitarian assistance: Nearly half of Yemen’s population depends directly or indirectly on humanitarian aid, making any decline in funding immediately reflected in their living conditions.
8. Climate change is compounding the crisis: Seasonal flooding, damage to agricultural land, and the death of large numbers of livestock have further deepened the humanitarian and economic crisis, alongside the effects of the ongoing conflict.
9. A widening gap between needs and humanitarian response: With less than 15 percent of funding requirements met, millions of Yemenis have fallen outside the scope of regular assistance, increasing the likelihood of further deterioration towards more severe levels of crisis.