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Prevalence of stunting, height for age, female (% of children under 5) by country

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...

Countries reporting
83
Highest
49.1%
Burundi
Lowest
0.9%
Korea
Median
19.2%
Years covered
39
1986–2024
Data points
730

What the numbers show

Prevalence of stunting, height for age, female (% of children under 5) is currently reported for 83 countries. The highest value is 49.1% in Burundi; the lowest is 0.9% in Korea.

The median across all reporting countries is 19.2%, and the mean is 20.1%.

The gap between the highest and lowest reporting country is a factor of about 55.

Over the past decade 15 countries rose and 67 fell. The largest increase was in United States of America (up 173.3%), and the largest decrease in China (down 65.4%).

Prevalence of stunting, height for age, female: full country ranking

#Country LatestYear 10-year changeTrend
1 Burundi 49.1% 2024 up 2.1% falling
2 Yemen 48.2% 2022 up 4.3% falling
3 Niger 45.0% 2022 up 21.3% falling
4 Guatemala 44.9% 2021 down 13.0% falling
5 Timor-Leste 44.7% 2020 down 19.6% falling
6 Congo, Democratic Republic of the 42.0% 2023 up 4.2% flat
7 Pakistan 37.1% 2018 down 13.5% falling
8 Madagascar 36.1% 2021 down 26.3% falling
9 Central African Republic 34.9% 2022 down 7.2% falling
10 India 34.6% 2020 down 27.6% falling
11 Ethiopia 33.6% 2019 down 21.1% falling
12 Mozambique 32.8% 2022 down 19.6% falling
13 Lesotho 32.5% 2024 up 15.7% falling
13 Nigeria 32.5% 2021 down 6.9% falling
15 Malawi 31.8% 2020 down 26.9% falling
16 Lao People's Democratic Republic 31.0% 2023 down 27.2% falling
16 Benin 31.0% 2021 down 8.0% flat
16 Zambia 31.0% 2018 down 27.7% falling
19 Rwanda 29.2% 2020 down 29.0% falling
20 Chad 29.0% 2022 down 21.8% falling
21 Liberia 27.9% 2019 down 22.9% falling
22 Myanmar 26.8% 2018 down 19.8% falling
23 Cameroon 26.6% 2018 down 22.9% falling
23 Tanzania, United Republic of 26.6% 2022 down 22.4% falling
25 Philippines 26.1% 2021 down 18.9% falling
26 Nepal 25.0% 2022 down 36.1% falling
27 Guinea-Bissau 24.8% 2019 down 4.6% falling
28 Djibouti 23.8% 2023 down 15.0% falling
29 Sierra Leone 23.6% 2021 down 18.9% falling
29 Mali 23.6% 2024 down 5.2% falling
31 Bangladesh 23.3% 2022 down 37.0% falling
32 Guinea 23.2% 2022 down 22.4% falling
33 Côte d'Ivoire 22.6% 2021 down 5.0% flat
34 Mauritania 22.5% 2022 up 9.2% falling
35 Uganda 21.6% 2022 down 32.9% falling
35 Viet Nam 21.6% 2010 down 48.6% falling
37 Togo 21.3% 2017 down 22.3% falling
38 Malaysia 20.6% 2022 up 17.0% rising
39 Indonesia 20.5% 2023 down 42.3% falling
40 Zimbabwe 20.4% 2019 down 37.0% falling
41 Haiti 19.4% 2023 up 2.1% falling
42 Cambodia 19.2% 2021 down 49.6% falling
43 Honduras 18.2% 2019 down 35.5% falling
44 Burkina Faso 17.5% 2021 down 43.2% falling
45 Eswatini 17.3% 2021 down 38.4% falling
46 Sri Lanka 16.6% 2016 down 4.0% falling
47 Nicaragua 16.4% 2012 down 29.6% falling
47 Senegal 16.4% 2023 up 9.3% falling
47 Gambia 16.4% 2020 down 23.0% falling
50 Bolivia, Plurinational State of 16.1% 2016 down 38.5% falling
51 Kenya 15.6% 2022 down 40.0% falling
51 Ecuador 15.6% 2024 down 28.4% falling
53 Ghana 15.3% 2022 down 24.6% falling
54 Maldives 14.2% 2017 down 18.4% falling
55 Morocco 13.7% 2019 down 1.4% falling
56 Mexico 13.5% 2022 up 11.6% falling
57 Kyrgyzstan 13.3% 2023 down 13.6% falling
58 Egypt 12.7% 2021 down 55.3% falling
59 Thailand 12.2% 2022 down 25.2% falling
60 Tajikistan 12.0% 2023 down 56.0% falling
61 Colombia 11.0% 2016 down 23.6% falling
62 Peru 10.5% 2023 down 36.7% falling
63 Oman 10.0% 2017 up 17.6% falling
64 El Salvador 9.1% 2021 down 54.3% falling
65 Jordan 8.9% 2023 up 43.5% falling
66 Palestine, State of 8.8% 2020 down 12.0% falling
67 Kazakhstan 8.3% 2015 down 50.9% falling
68 Saudi Arabia 8.0% 2020 — rising
69 Algeria 7.9% 2019 down 44.4% falling
70 Armenia 7.8% 2016 down 55.2% falling
70 Mongolia 7.8% 2018 down 42.2% falling
72 Guyana 7.6% 2019 down 58.7% falling
73 China 7.2% 2013 down 65.4% volatile
74 Uzbekistan 7.1% 2021 down 64.0% falling
75 Uruguay 6.5% 2018 down 36.3% falling
76 Azerbaijan 6.2% 2023 down 64.6% falling
77 Dominican Republic 5.9% 2019 down 35.2% falling
78 Türkiye 5.8% 2018 down 54.7% falling
79 United States of America 4.1% 2018 up 173.3% flat
80 Kuwait 2.6% 2023 down 48.0% rising
81 Jamaica 2.3% 2018 down 48.9% falling
82 United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland 2.1% 2019 up 5.0% flat
83 Korea 0.9% 2020 up 12.5% volatile

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Prevalence of stunting, height for age, female by country. Statizoid, drawing on 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'. Retrieved 15 September 2026, from https://health.statizoid.com/stat/prevalence-of-stunting-height-for-age-female-percent-of-children-under-5/

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About this data

Indicator
Prevalence of stunting, height for age, female (% of children under 5)
Unit
% of children under 5
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'
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data)
Coverage
83 places, 730 data points, 1986–2024
Last refreshed

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.