Prevalence of stunting, height for age, female in Malawi
Malawi: Prevalence of stunting, height for age, female was 30.2% in 2024. ▼ Falling
Prevalence of stunting, height for age, female in Malawi, 2000–2024
Source: Joint child Malnutrition Estimates (JME), UN Children's Fund (UNICEF).
Analysis
The most recent figure for prevalence of stunting, height for age, female in Malawi is 30.2%, measured in 2024. That is the lowest value across all 25 years on record.
That represents a change of down 19.0% over ten years.
Over the whole period, prevalence of stunting, height for age, female in Malawi peaked at 53.1% in 2000 and was at its lowest, 30.2%, in 2023.
That places Malawi 21st out of 162 countries with data for 2024, putting it in the top quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 25 years of available data.
Prevalence of stunting, height for age, female in Malawi, year by year
| Year | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 53.1% | — |
| 2001 | 52.8% | -0.6% |
| 2002 | 52.5% | -0.6% |
| 2003 | 52.0% | -1.0% |
| 2004 | 51.3% | -1.3% |
| 2005 | 50.6% | -1.4% |
| 2006 | 49.7% | -1.8% |
| 2007 | 48.5% | -2.4% |
| 2008 | 47.0% | -3.1% |
| 2009 | 45.4% | -3.4% |
| 2010 | 43.7% | -3.7% |
| 2011 | 42.0% | -3.9% |
| 2012 | 40.3% | -4.0% |
| 2013 | 38.8% | -3.7% |
| 2014 | 37.3% | -3.9% |
| 2015 | 36.0% | -3.5% |
| 2016 | 34.8% | -3.3% |
| 2017 | 33.7% | -3.2% |
| 2018 | 32.8% | -2.7% |
| 2019 | 31.9% | -2.7% |
| 2020 | 31.1% | -2.5% |
| 2021 | 30.6% | -1.6% |
| 2022 | 30.4% | -0.7% |
| 2023 | 30.2% | -0.7% |
| 2024 | 30.2% | +0.0% |
Malawi compared with similar countries
- Malawi's 30.2% is above the median for low income countries, which is 29.3%, 1.0× the median. (25 countries reporting)
- Malawi's 30.2% is above the median for Sub-Saharan Africa, which is 22.4%, 1.4× the median. (48 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 50.3% | 45.4% | 53.1% | 10 |
| 2010s | 37.1% | 31.9% | 43.7% | 10 |
| 2020s | 30.5% | 30.2% | 31.1% | 5 |
Countries ranked near Malawi
More health data for Malawi
- Un projection of annual infant deaths, annual growth rate -0.8368 % change on previous year (2100)
- Heat deaths vs projected death rates, annual growth rate 0.9312 % change on previous year (2090)
- Estimated changes in temperature-related death rates compared to projected death rates 856.3 deaths per 1,000 people (2090)
- Number of infants who die before age 1 6,399 deaths (2100)
- Neonatal tetanus - number of reported cases, gaps filled 2 (2025)
- Population ages 00-04, female, annual growth rate 1.61 % change on previous year (2025)
- Population ages 00-04, female, per unit of GDP 0.0001 units per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Population ages 00-04, female, per capita 0.0714 units per person (2025)
- Population ages 00-04, male, annual growth rate 1.63 % change on previous year (2025)
- Population ages 00-04, male, per unit of GDP 0.0001 units per US$ of GDP (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is prevalence of stunting, height for age, female in Malawi?
- Prevalence of stunting, height for age, female in Malawi was 30.2% 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 Malawi?
- The highest recorded value was 53.1% in 2000.
- What is the lowest prevalence of stunting, height for age, female recorded in Malawi?
- The lowest recorded value was 30.2% in 2023.
- How does Malawi rank for prevalence of stunting, height for age, female?
- Malawi ranks 21st out of 162 countries with data for 2024.
- Is prevalence of stunting, height for age, female rising or falling in Malawi?
- Over the last ten years it is down 19.0%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Malawi 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.