Prevalence of stunting, height for age, female in Ghana
Ghana: Prevalence of stunting, height for age, female was 13.8% in 2024. ▼ Falling
Prevalence of stunting, height for age, female in Ghana, 2000–2024
Source: Joint child Malnutrition Estimates (JME), UN Children's Fund (UNICEF).
Analysis
In 2024, prevalence of stunting, height for age, female in Ghana stood at 13.8%. That is the lowest value across all 25 years on record.
Compared with earlier readings it is down 0.7% on the previous year and down 25.0% over ten years.
Over the whole period, prevalence of stunting, height for age, female in Ghana peaked at 30.3% in 2000 and was at its lowest, 13.8%, in 2024.
That places Ghana 69th out of 162 countries with data for 2024, putting it in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 25 years of available data.
Prevalence of stunting, height for age, female in Ghana, year by year
| Year | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 30.3% | — |
| 2001 | 29.8% | -1.7% |
| 2002 | 29.3% | -1.7% |
| 2003 | 28.7% | -2.0% |
| 2004 | 27.9% | -2.8% |
| 2005 | 27.2% | -2.5% |
| 2006 | 26.4% | -2.9% |
| 2007 | 25.4% | -3.8% |
| 2008 | 24.3% | -4.3% |
| 2009 | 23.2% | -4.5% |
| 2010 | 22.1% | -4.7% |
| 2011 | 21.0% | -5.0% |
| 2012 | 20.0% | -4.8% |
| 2013 | 19.1% | -4.5% |
| 2014 | 18.4% | -3.7% |
| 2015 | 17.7% | -3.8% |
| 2016 | 17.1% | -3.4% |
| 2017 | 16.5% | -3.5% |
| 2018 | 15.8% | -4.2% |
| 2019 | 15.2% | -3.8% |
| 2020 | 14.6% | -3.9% |
| 2021 | 14.2% | -2.7% |
| 2022 | 14.0% | -1.4% |
| 2023 | 13.9% | -0.7% |
| 2024 | 13.8% | -0.7% |
Ghana compared with similar countries
- Ghana's 13.8% is below the median for lower middle income countries, which is 19.1%, 72% of the median. (46 countries reporting)
- Ghana's 13.8% is below the median for Sub-Saharan Africa, which is 22.4%, 62% of the median. (48 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 27.2% | 23.2% | 30.3% | 10 |
| 2010s | 18.3% | 15.2% | 22.1% | 10 |
| 2020s | 14.1% | 13.8% | 14.6% | 5 |
Countries ranked near Ghana
More health data for Ghana
- Un projection of annual infant deaths, annual growth rate -1.37 % change on previous year (2100)
- Heat deaths vs projected death rates, annual growth rate 0.6224 % change on previous year (2090)
- Estimated changes in temperature-related death rates compared to projected death rates 986.1 deaths per 1,000 people (2090)
- Number of infants who die before age 1 8,361 deaths (2100)
- Neonatal tetanus - number of reported cases, gaps filled 2 (2025)
- Population ages 00-04, female, annual growth rate 0.5623 % change on previous year (2025)
- Population ages 00-04, female, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Population ages 00-04, female, per capita 0.06 units per person (2025)
- Population ages 00-04, male, annual growth rate 0.5816 % change on previous year (2025)
- Population ages 00-04, male, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is prevalence of stunting, height for age, female in Ghana?
- Prevalence of stunting, height for age, female in Ghana was 13.8% in 2024, according to Joint child Malnutrition Estimates (JME), UN Children's Fund (UNICEF).
- What is the highest prevalence of stunting, height for age, female recorded in Ghana?
- The highest recorded value was 30.3% in 2000.
- What is the lowest prevalence of stunting, height for age, female recorded in Ghana?
- The lowest recorded value was 13.8% in 2024.
- How does Ghana rank for prevalence of stunting, height for age, female?
- Ghana ranks 69th out of 162 countries with data for 2024.
- Is prevalence of stunting, height for age, female rising or falling in Ghana?
- Over the last ten years it is down 25.0%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Ghana data come from?
- The figures come from Joint child Malnutrition Estimates (JME), UN Children's Fund (UNICEF), published as part of Prevalence of stunting, height for age, female (modeled estimate, % of children under 5). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 25 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data).
About this data
Prevalence of stunting, female, is the percentage of girls under age 5 whose height for age is more than two standard deviations below the median for the international reference population ages 0-59 months. For children up to two years old height is measured by recumbent length. For older children height is measured by stature while standing. The data are based on the WHO's 2006 Child Growth Standards.