Prevalence of severe wasting, weight for height, female in Madagascar

Madagascar: Prevalence of severe wasting, weight for height, female was 0.9% in 2021. ◆ Volatile

Latest (2021)
0.9%
Change on year
up 12.5%
World rank
38th
of 84 countries
All-time high
3.7%
in 2004
All-time low
0.7%
in 2011
Years of data
7
1992–2021

Prevalence of severe wasting, weight for height, female in Madagascar, 1992–2021

12341992200620211992: 1.2 % of children under 51997: 2.4 % of children under 52004: 3.7 % of children under 52011: 0.7 % of children under 52012: 0.7 % of children under 52018: 0.8 % of children under 52021: 0.9 % 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'. Measured in % of children under 5.

Analysis

Madagascar recorded 0.9% for prevalence of severe wasting, weight for height, female in 2021.

The figure is up 12.5% on the previous year and up 28.6% over ten years.

Over the whole period, prevalence of severe wasting, weight for height, female in Madagascar peaked at 3.7% in 2004 and was at its lowest, 0.7%, in 2011.

Madagascar ranks 38th of 84 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.

Prevalence of severe wasting, weight for height, female in Madagascar, year by year

Annual values for Prevalence of severe wasting, weight for height, female (% of children under 5) in Madagascar, 1992 to 2021.
Year % of children under 5 Change
1992 1.2%
1997 2.4% +100.0%
2004 3.7% +54.2%
2011 0.7% -81.1%
2012 0.7% +0.0%
2018 0.8% +14.3%
2021 0.9% +12.5%

Madagascar compared with similar countries

  • Madagascar's 0.9% is above the median for low income countries, which is 0.9%, 1.1× the median. (18 countries reporting)
  • Madagascar's 0.9% is above the median for Sub-Saharan Africa, which is 0.9%, 1.0× the median. (32 countries reporting)

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1990s 1.8% 1.2% 2.4% 2
2000s 3.7% 3.7% 3.7% 1
2010s 0.7% 0.7% 0.8% 3
2020s 0.9% 0.9% 0.9% 1

Countries ranked near Madagascar

  1. 38 Ghana 0.9% compare
  2. 38 Nepal 0.9% compare
  3. 38 Senegal 0.9% compare
  4. 38 Togo 0.9% compare
  5. 38 Türkiye 0.9% compare

See the full ranking of 84 places →

More health data for Madagascar

All data for Madagascar →

Frequently asked questions

What is prevalence of severe wasting, weight for height, female in Madagascar?
Prevalence of severe wasting, weight for height, female in Madagascar was 0.9% in 2021, according to 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'.
What is the highest prevalence of severe wasting, weight for height, female recorded in Madagascar?
The highest recorded value was 3.7% in 2004.
What is the lowest prevalence of severe wasting, weight for height, female recorded in Madagascar?
The lowest recorded value was 0.7% in 2011.
How does Madagascar rank for prevalence of severe wasting, weight for height, female?
Madagascar ranks 38th out of 84 countries with data for 2021.
Is prevalence of severe wasting, weight for height, female rising or falling in Madagascar?
Over the last ten years it is up 28.6%. The long-run trend across the full record is volatile.
Where does this Madagascar data come from?
The figures 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 part of Prevalence of severe wasting, weight for height, female (% of children under 5). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

Download this data

CSV · JSON — 7 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data).

Share, cite or embed this page

Cite this page

Prevalence of severe wasting, weight for height, female in Madagascar. 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 17 September 2026, from https://health.statizoid.com/stat/prevalence-of-severe-wasting-weight-for-height-female-percent-of-children-under-5/madagascar/

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/prevalence-of-severe-wasting-weight-for-height-female-percent-of-children-under-5/madagascar/">Prevalence of severe wasting, weight for height, female in Madagascar</a> — Statizoid

About this data

Indicator
Prevalence of severe wasting, weight for height, female (% 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
84 places, 738 data points, 1986–2024
Last refreshed

Prevalence of severe wasting, female, is the proportion of girls 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.