The number, which represents an increase of one million people from the present, comes from the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), a UN-backed assessment.

"We are warning about a deteriorating food security situation in the country," the UN secretary-general's spokesman Stephane Dujarric said.

Below-average rainfall combined with high food prices, conflict and food insecurity will lead to the 4.4 million figure, which represents 23 percent of the country's population, the report said.

It said the number would be reached between April and June.

The Horn of Africa nation is one of the world's poorest, enduring decades of civil war, a bloody insurgency by the Al-Qaeda-linked Al-Shabaab, and frequent climate disasters.

The IPC report also estimated that some 1.7 million children under age five will suffer from acute malnutrition in 2025 (up four percent since 2024), including 466,000 cases of severe acute malnutrition.

"Worsening drought, erratic rainfall, and ongoing conflict are eroding livelihoods, pushing families deeper into crisis," said Etienne Peterschmitt, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization representative in Somalia.

The UN agency is responding to the situation "by scaling up its support for increased agricultural production, promoting climate-smart solutions, and strengthening resilient agrifood systems," he said.

According to the UN, nearly six million Somalis will need humanitarian assistance in 2025.

But given chronic underfunding, an appeal launched at the end of January calls for $1.43 billion to support only 4.6 million of the most vulnerable.