India vs Sub-Saharan Africa: Prevalence of underweight, weight for age
India
31.5%
in 2020
Sub-Saharan Africa
15.7%
in 2024
India rank
4th
Sub-Saharan Africa rank
4th
Prevalence of underweight, weight for age over time
- India
- Sub-Saharan Africa
How they compare
India currently reports 31.5% against 15.7% in Sub-Saharan Africa, a difference of 15.8%.
That makes India's figure about 2.0 times Sub-Saharan Africa's.
Across all 5 years both countries report, India has been ahead every year.
India ranks 4th and Sub-Saharan Africa ranks 4th of 96 countries.
India has averaged higher in every one of the 3 decades both report.
Head to head by decade
| Decade | India | Sub-Saharan Africa | Difference | Ahead |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 43.5% | 22.3% | 21.2% | India |
| 2010s | 33.2% | 18.7% | 14.5% | India |
| 2020s | 31.5% | 17.1% | 14.4% | India |
Averages of every year both report within each decade.
Frequently asked questions
- Which has higher prevalence of underweight, weight for age, India or Sub-Saharan Africa?
- India, at 31.5% against 15.7% in Sub-Saharan Africa as of 2020.
- What is the difference in prevalence of underweight, weight for age between India and Sub-Saharan Africa?
- 15.8%, with India ahead.
- How many years of comparable data are there for India and Sub-Saharan Africa?
- 5 years are reported by both, from 2006 to 2020.
- How do India and Sub-Saharan Africa rank globally for prevalence of underweight, weight for age?
- India ranks 4th and Sub-Saharan Africa ranks 4th of 96 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 underweight, weight for age (% of children under 5). Statizoid refreshes it automatically from the source and publishes the full history for both places.
Individual pages
About this data
Prevalence of underweight children is the percentage of children under age 5 whose weight for age is more than two standard deviations below the median for the international reference population ages 0-59 months. The data are based on the WHO's 2006 Child Growth Standards.