Sierra Leone vs Sub-Saharan Africa: Prevalence of severe wasting, weight for height

Sierra Leone
2.4%
in 2021
Sub-Saharan Africa
1.3%
in 2024
Sierra Leone rank
8th
Sub-Saharan Africa rank
8th

Prevalence of severe wasting, weight for height over time

  • Sierra Leone
  • Sub-Saharan Africa
1234200020122024

How they compare

Sierra Leone currently reports 2.4% against 1.3% in Sub-Saharan Africa, a difference of 1.1%.

That makes Sierra Leone's figure about 1.8 times Sub-Saharan Africa's.

The two have swapped places 4 times across 7 shared years of data; in 2000 it was Sierra Leone ahead.

Sierra Leone ranks 8th and Sub-Saharan Africa ranks 8th of 85 countries.

Across the 3 decades both report, Sierra Leone averaged higher in 2 and Sub-Saharan Africa in 1.

Head to head by decade

Decade Sierra Leone Sub-Saharan Africa Difference Ahead
2000s 4.0% 2.8% 1.2% Sierra Leone
2010s 1.5% 1.8% 0.3% Sub-Saharan Africa
2020s 2.4% 1.4% 0.9% Sierra Leone

Averages of every year both report within each decade.

Frequently asked questions

Which has higher prevalence of severe wasting, weight for height, Sierra Leone or Sub-Saharan Africa?
Sierra Leone, at 2.4% against 1.3% in Sub-Saharan Africa as of 2021.
What is the difference in prevalence of severe wasting, weight for height between Sierra Leone and Sub-Saharan Africa?
1.1%, with Sierra Leone ahead.
How many years of comparable data are there for Sierra Leone and Sub-Saharan Africa?
7 years are reported by both, from 2000 to 2021.
How do Sierra Leone and Sub-Saharan Africa rank globally for prevalence of severe wasting, weight for height?
Sierra Leone ranks 8th and Sub-Saharan Africa ranks 8th of 85 countries.
Where does this data come from?
UNICEF, WHO, World Bank: Joint child Malnutrition Estimates (JME). Aggregation is based on UNICEF, WHO, and the World Bank harmonized dataset (adjusted, comparable data) and methodology., UN Children', published as Prevalence of severe wasting, weight for height (% of children under 5). Statizoid refreshes it automatically from the source and publishes the full history for both places.

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Sierra Leone vs Sub-Saharan Africa: Prevalence of severe wasting, weight for height. Statizoid, drawing on UNICEF, WHO, World Bank: Joint child Malnutrition Estimates (JME). Aggregation is based on UNICEF, WHO, and the World Bank harmonized dataset (adjusted, comparable data) and methodology., UN Children'. Retrieved 18 September 2026, from https://health.statizoid.com/compare/prevalence-of-severe-wasting-weight-for-height-percent-of-children-under-5/sierra-leone/sub-saharan-africa/

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<a href="https://health.statizoid.com/compare/prevalence-of-severe-wasting-weight-for-height-percent-of-children-under-5/sierra-leone/sub-saharan-africa/">Sierra Leone vs Sub-Saharan Africa: Prevalence of severe wasting, weight for height</a> — Statizoid

About this data

Indicator
Prevalence of severe wasting, weight for height (% of children under 5)
Unit
% of children under 5
Source
UNICEF, WHO, World Bank: Joint child Malnutrition Estimates (JME). Aggregation is based on UNICEF, WHO, and the World Bank harmonized dataset (adjusted, comparable data) and methodology., UN Children'
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data)
Coverage
99 places, 1,131 data points, 1986–2024
Last refreshed

Prevalence of severe wasting is the proportion of children under age 5 whose weight for height is more than three standard deviations below the median for the international reference population ages 0-59 months.