Low-birthweight babies in Nepal

Nepal: Low-birthweight babies was 19.7% in 2020. ▼ Falling

Latest (2020)
19.7%
Change on year
down 0.6%
World rank
6th
of 157 countries
All-time high
22.3%
in 2000
All-time low
19.7%
in 2020
Years of data
21
2000–2020

Low-birthweight babies in Nepal, 2000–2020

051015202000201020202000: 22.3 % of births2001: 22.3 % of births2002: 22.3 % of births2003: 22.2 % of births2004: 22.1 % of births2005: 22.1 % of births2006: 21.9 % of births2007: 21.8 % of births2008: 21.6 % of births2009: 21.4 % of births2010: 21.3 % of births2011: 21.1 % of births2012: 20.9 % of births2013: 20.7 % of births2014: 20.6 % of births2015: 20.4 % of births2016: 20.3 % of births2017: 20.1 % of births2018: 20 % of births2019: 19.8 % of births2020: 19.7 % of births

Source: UNICEF-WHO Low birthweight estimates, UN Children's Fund (UNICEF). Measured in % of births.

Analysis

Nepal recorded 19.7% for low-birthweight babies in 2020. That is the lowest value across all 21 years on record.

The figure is down 0.6% on the previous year and down 7.2% over ten years.

Over the whole period, low-birthweight babies in Nepal peaked at 22.3% in 2000 and was at its lowest, 19.7%, in 2020.

Nepal ranks 6th of 157 countries on this measure, in the top 10%.

The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 21 years of available data.

Low-birthweight babies in Nepal, year by year

Annual values for Low-birthweight babies (% of births) in Nepal, 2000 to 2020.
Year % of births Change
2000 22.3%
2001 22.3% -0.1%
2002 22.3% -0.1%
2003 22.2% -0.2%
2004 22.1% -0.3%
2005 22.1% -0.4%
2006 21.9% -0.5%
2007 21.8% -0.7%
2008 21.6% -0.8%
2009 21.4% -0.8%
2010 21.3% -0.9%
2011 21.1% -0.8%
2012 20.9% -0.8%
2013 20.7% -0.8%
2014 20.6% -0.8%
2015 20.4% -0.7%
2016 20.3% -0.7%
2017 20.1% -0.8%
2018 20.0% -0.7%
2019 19.8% -0.7%
2020 19.7% -0.6%

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
2000s 22.0% 21.4% 22.3% 10
2010s 20.5% 19.8% 21.3% 10
2020s 19.7% 19.7% 19.7% 1

Countries ranked near Nepal

  1. 3 Comoros 23.0% compare
  2. 4 Philippines 21.1% compare
  3. 5 Liberia 19.9% compare
  4. 7 Guinea-Bissau 19.5% compare
  5. 8 Papua New Guinea 19.4% compare
  6. 9 Jordan 18.9% compare

See the full ranking of 188 places →

More health data for Nepal

All data for Nepal →

Frequently asked questions

What is low-birthweight babies in Nepal?
Low-birthweight babies in Nepal was 19.7% in 2020, according to UNICEF-WHO Low birthweight estimates, UN Children's Fund (UNICEF).
What is the highest low-birthweight babies recorded in Nepal?
The highest recorded value was 22.3% in 2000.
What is the lowest low-birthweight babies recorded in Nepal?
The lowest recorded value was 19.7% in 2020.
How does Nepal rank for low-birthweight babies?
Nepal ranks 6th out of 157 countries with data for 2020.
Is low-birthweight babies rising or falling in Nepal?
Over the last ten years it is down 7.2%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
Where does this Nepal data come from?
The figures come from UNICEF-WHO Low birthweight estimates, UN Children's Fund (UNICEF), published as part of Low-birthweight babies (% of births). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

Download this data

CSV · JSON — 21 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data).

Share, cite or embed this page

Cite this page

Low-birthweight babies in Nepal. Statizoid, drawing on UNICEF-WHO Low birthweight estimates, UN Children's Fund (UNICEF). Retrieved 03 September 2026, from https://health.statizoid.com/stat/low-birthweight-babies-percent-of-births/nepal/

Embed or link this data

Paste this into a page to link back to these figures. The data itself is free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data); please keep the attribution.

<a href="https://health.statizoid.com/stat/low-birthweight-babies-percent-of-births/nepal/">Low-birthweight babies in Nepal</a> — Statizoid

About this data

Indicator
Low-birthweight babies (% of births)
Unit
% of births
Source
UNICEF-WHO Low birthweight estimates, UN Children's Fund (UNICEF)
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data)
Coverage
188 places, 3,948 data points, 2000–2020
Last refreshed

Low-birthweight babies are newborns weighing less than 2,500 grams, with the measurement taken within the first hour of life, before significant postnatal weight loss has occurred.