Prevalence of stunting, height for age, female in Pakistan
Pakistan: Prevalence of stunting, height for age, female was 32.6% in 2024. ▼ Falling
Prevalence of stunting, height for age, female in Pakistan, 2000–2024
Source: Joint child Malnutrition Estimates (JME), UN Children's Fund (UNICEF).
Analysis
Pakistan recorded 32.6% for prevalence of stunting, height for age, female in 2024. That is the lowest value across all 25 years on record.
Compared with earlier readings it is down 0.3% on the previous year and down 22.2% over ten years.
Over the whole period, prevalence of stunting, height for age, female in Pakistan peaked at 44.8% in 2008 and was at its lowest, 32.6%, in 2024.
Pakistan ranks 16th of 162 countries on this measure, in the top 10%.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 25 years of available data.
Prevalence of stunting, height for age, female in Pakistan, year by year
| Year | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 39.9% | — |
| 2001 | 40.5% | +1.5% |
| 2002 | 41.3% | +2.0% |
| 2003 | 42.1% | +1.9% |
| 2004 | 42.9% | +1.9% |
| 2005 | 43.6% | +1.6% |
| 2006 | 44.2% | +1.4% |
| 2007 | 44.6% | +0.9% |
| 2008 | 44.8% | +0.4% |
| 2009 | 44.7% | -0.2% |
| 2010 | 44.4% | -0.7% |
| 2011 | 43.9% | -1.1% |
| 2012 | 43.3% | -1.4% |
| 2013 | 42.6% | -1.6% |
| 2014 | 41.9% | -1.6% |
| 2015 | 41.0% | -2.1% |
| 2016 | 39.9% | -2.7% |
| 2017 | 38.7% | -3.0% |
| 2018 | 37.3% | -3.6% |
| 2019 | 35.9% | -3.8% |
| 2020 | 34.7% | -3.3% |
| 2021 | 33.7% | -2.9% |
| 2022 | 33.2% | -1.5% |
| 2023 | 32.7% | -1.5% |
| 2024 | 32.6% | -0.3% |
Pakistan compared with similar countries
- Pakistan's 32.6% is above the median for lower middle income countries, which is 19.1%, 1.7× the median. (46 countries reporting)
- Pakistan's 32.6% is above the median for Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan, which is 8.9%, 3.7× the median. (21 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 42.9% | 39.9% | 44.8% | 10 |
| 2010s | 40.9% | 35.9% | 44.4% | 10 |
| 2020s | 33.4% | 32.6% | 34.7% | 5 |
Countries ranked near Pakistan
More health data for Pakistan
- Un projection of annual infant deaths, annual growth rate -2.14 % change on previous year (2100)
- Heat deaths vs projected death rates, annual growth rate 0.8219 % change on previous year (2090)
- Estimated changes in temperature-related death rates compared to projected death rates 944.5 deaths per 1,000 people (2090)
- Number of infants who die before age 1 55,286 deaths (2100)
- Neonatal tetanus - number of reported cases, gaps filled 335 (2025)
- Population ages 00-04, female, annual growth rate 0.5028 % 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 0.0616 units per person (2025)
- Population ages 00-04, male, annual growth rate 0.4109 % 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 Pakistan?
- Prevalence of stunting, height for age, female in Pakistan was 32.6% 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 Pakistan?
- The highest recorded value was 44.8% in 2008.
- What is the lowest prevalence of stunting, height for age, female recorded in Pakistan?
- The lowest recorded value was 32.6% in 2024.
- How does Pakistan rank for prevalence of stunting, height for age, female?
- Pakistan ranks 16th out of 162 countries with data for 2024.
- Is prevalence of stunting, height for age, female rising or falling in Pakistan?
- Over the last ten years it is down 22.2%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Pakistan 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.