The Three Years of Great Chinese Famine, referred to by the Communist Party of China as the Three Years of Natural Disasters or Three Years of Difficult Period by the government, is the period in the People's Republic of China between the years 1958 and 1961 characterized by widespread famine.

Drought, poor weather, and the policies of the Communist Party of China contribute to the famine, although the relative weights of the contributions are disputed due to the Great Leap Forward.According to government statistics, there are 15 million excess deaths in this period.

Unofficial estimates vary, but scholars have estimated the number of famine victims to be between 20 and 43 million.

Historian Frank Dikötter, having been granted special access to Chinese archival materials, estimates that there were at least 45 million premature deaths from 1958 to 1962.

[ Chinese journalist Yang Jisheng concluded there were 36 million deaths due to starvation, while another 40 million others failed to be born, so that "China's total population loss during the Great Famine then comes to 76 million."

The phrase "Three Bitter Years" is often used by Chinese peasants to describe this period.