Prevalence of stunting, height for age, female in Somalia
Somalia: Prevalence of stunting, height for age, female was 22.0% in 2024. ▼ Falling
Prevalence of stunting, height for age, female in Somalia, 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 Somalia is 22.0%, measured in 2024. That is the lowest value across all 25 years on record.
Compared with earlier readings it is down 0.5% on the previous year and down 16.0% over ten years.
Over the whole period, prevalence of stunting, height for age, female in Somalia peaked at 31.4% in 2001 and was at its lowest, 22.0%, in 2024.
Somalia ranks 42nd of 162 countries on this measure, 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 Somalia, year by year
| Year | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 31.3% | — |
| 2001 | 31.4% | +0.3% |
| 2002 | 31.4% | +0.0% |
| 2003 | 31.4% | +0.0% |
| 2004 | 31.3% | -0.3% |
| 2005 | 31.1% | -0.6% |
| 2006 | 30.9% | -0.6% |
| 2007 | 30.5% | -1.3% |
| 2008 | 30.0% | -1.6% |
| 2009 | 29.4% | -2.0% |
| 2010 | 28.7% | -2.4% |
| 2011 | 28.0% | -2.4% |
| 2012 | 27.3% | -2.5% |
| 2013 | 26.7% | -2.2% |
| 2014 | 26.2% | -1.9% |
| 2015 | 25.6% | -2.3% |
| 2016 | 25.0% | -2.3% |
| 2017 | 24.4% | -2.4% |
| 2018 | 23.7% | -2.9% |
| 2019 | 23.1% | -2.5% |
| 2020 | 22.6% | -2.2% |
| 2021 | 22.3% | -1.3% |
| 2022 | 22.2% | -0.4% |
| 2023 | 22.1% | -0.5% |
| 2024 | 22.0% | -0.5% |
Somalia compared with similar countries
- Somalia's 22.0% is below the median for low income countries, which is 29.3%, 75% of the median. (25 countries reporting)
- Somalia's 22.0% is below the median for Sub-Saharan Africa, which is 22.4%, 98% of the median. (48 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 30.9% | 29.4% | 31.4% | 10 |
| 2010s | 25.9% | 23.1% | 28.7% | 10 |
| 2020s | 22.2% | 22.0% | 22.6% | 5 |
Countries ranked near Somalia
More health data for Somalia
- Un projection of annual infant deaths, annual growth rate -1.41 % change on previous year (2100)
- Heat deaths vs projected death rates, annual growth rate 0.8681 % change on previous year (2090)
- Estimated changes in temperature-related death rates compared to projected death rates 987.7 deaths per 1,000 people (2090)
- Number of infants who die before age 1 32,421 deaths (2100)
- Neonatal tetanus - number of reported cases, gaps filled 182 (2013)
- Population ages 00-04, female, annual growth rate 2.39 % 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 0.0897 units per person (2025)
- Population ages 00-04, male, annual growth rate 2.38 % 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 Somalia?
- Prevalence of stunting, height for age, female in Somalia was 22.0% 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 Somalia?
- The highest recorded value was 31.4% in 2001.
- What is the lowest prevalence of stunting, height for age, female recorded in Somalia?
- The lowest recorded value was 22.0% in 2024.
- How does Somalia rank for prevalence of stunting, height for age, female?
- Somalia ranks 42nd out of 162 countries with data for 2024.
- Is prevalence of stunting, height for age, female rising or falling in Somalia?
- Over the last ten years it is down 16.0%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Somalia 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.