Prevalence of severe wasting, weight for height in Latin America & Caribbean
Latin America & Caribbean: Prevalence of severe wasting, weight for height was 0.3% in 2024. ▼ Falling
Prevalence of severe wasting, weight for height in Latin America & Caribbean, 2000–2024
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
In 2024, prevalence of severe wasting, weight for height in Latin America & Caribbean stood at 0.3%. That is the lowest value across all 25 years on record.
That represents a change of down 3.6% on the previous year and down 25.0% over ten years.
Over the whole period, prevalence of severe wasting, weight for height in Latin America & Caribbean peaked at 0.6% in 2000 and was at its lowest, 0.3%, in 2024.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 25 years of available data.
Prevalence of severe wasting, weight for height in Latin America & Caribbean, year by year
| Year | % of children under 5 | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 0.6% | — |
| 2001 | 0.6% | -3.5% |
| 2002 | 0.5% | -3.6% |
| 2003 | 0.5% | -3.8% |
| 2004 | 0.5% | -2.0% |
| 2005 | 0.5% | -4.0% |
| 2006 | 0.5% | -2.1% |
| 2007 | 0.5% | -4.3% |
| 2008 | 0.4% | -2.2% |
| 2009 | 0.4% | -4.5% |
| 2010 | 0.4% | -2.4% |
| 2011 | 0.4% | -2.4% |
| 2012 | 0.4% | -2.5% |
| 2013 | 0.4% | -5.1% |
| 2014 | 0.4% | -2.7% |
| 2015 | 0.3% | -2.8% |
| 2016 | 0.3% | -2.9% |
| 2017 | 0.3% | -2.9% |
| 2018 | 0.3% | -3.0% |
| 2019 | 0.3% | -3.1% |
| 2020 | 0.3% | -3.2% |
| 2021 | 0.3% | -3.3% |
| 2022 | 0.3% | -3.4% |
| 2023 | 0.3% | +0.0% |
| 2024 | 0.3% | -3.6% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 0.5% | 0.4% | 0.6% | 10 |
| 2010s | 0.4% | 0.3% | 0.4% | 10 |
| 2020s | 0.3% | 0.3% | 0.3% | 5 |
Countries ranked near Latin America & Caribbean
More health data for Latin America & Caribbean
- Population ages 05-09, male, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Population ages 45-49, male, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Population ages 65 and above, female, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Population ages 45-49, male, annual growth rate 1.78 % change on previous year (2025)
- Population ages 45-49, female, per capita 0.033 units per person (2025)
- Population ages 45-49, female, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Population ages 45-49, female, annual growth rate 1.72 % change on previous year (2025)
- Population ages 40-44, male, per capita 0.0344 units per person (2025)
- Population ages 40-44, male, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Population ages 35-39, male, per capita 0.0369 units per person (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is prevalence of severe wasting, weight for height in Latin America & Caribbean?
- Prevalence of severe wasting, weight for height in Latin America & Caribbean was 0.3% in 2024, 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 recorded in Latin America & Caribbean?
- The highest recorded value was 0.6% in 2000.
- What is the lowest prevalence of severe wasting, weight for height recorded in Latin America & Caribbean?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.3% in 2024.
- How does Latin America & Caribbean rank for prevalence of severe wasting, weight for height?
- Latin America & Caribbean ranks 11th out of 14 groups with data for 2024.
- Is prevalence of severe wasting, weight for height rising or falling in Latin America & Caribbean?
- Over the last ten years it is down 25.0%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Latin America & Caribbean 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 (% of children under 5). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
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About this data
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.