Prevalence of stunting, height for age, female in Bolivia

Bolivia: Prevalence of stunting, height for age, female was 16.1% in 2016. ▼ Falling

Latest (2016)
16.1%
World rank
50th
of 83 countries
All-time high
38.1%
in 1989
All-time low
16.1%
in 2016
Years of data
7
1989–2016

Prevalence of stunting, height for age, female in Bolivia, 1989–2016

0102030401989200220161989: 38.1 % of children under 51994: 32.1 % of children under 51998: 32 % of children under 52003: 31.4 % of children under 52008: 26.2 % of children under 52012: 16.3 % of children under 52016: 16.1 % 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'. Measured in % of children under 5.

Analysis

In 2016, prevalence of stunting, height for age, female in Bolivia stood at 16.1%. That is the lowest value across all 7 years on record.

Compared with earlier readings it is down 38.5% over ten years.

Over the whole period, prevalence of stunting, height for age, female in Bolivia peaked at 38.1% in 1989 and was at its lowest, 16.1%, in 2016.

That places Bolivia 50th out of 83 countries with data for 2016, putting it in the middle of the range.

Prevalence of stunting, height for age, female in Bolivia, year by year

Annual values for Prevalence of stunting, height for age, female (% of children under 5) in Bolivia, 1989 to 2016.
Year % of children under 5 Change
1989 38.1%
1994 32.1% -15.7%
1998 32.0% -0.3%
2003 31.4% -1.9%
2008 26.2% -16.6%
2012 16.3% -37.8%
2016 16.1% -1.2%

Bolivia compared with similar countries

  • Bolivia's 16.1% is below the median for lower middle income countries, which is 21.9%, 74% of the median. (34 countries reporting)
  • Bolivia's 16.1% is above the median for Latin America & Caribbean, which is 12.2%, 1.3× the median. (14 countries reporting)

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1980s 38.1% 38.1% 38.1% 1
1990s 32.0% 32.0% 32.1% 2
2000s 28.8% 26.2% 31.4% 2
2010s 16.2% 16.1% 16.3% 2

Countries ranked near Bolivia

  1. 47 Gambia 16.4% compare
  2. 47 Nicaragua 16.4% compare
  3. 47 Senegal 16.4% compare
  4. 51 Ecuador 15.6% compare
  5. 51 Kenya 15.6% compare
  6. 53 Ghana 15.3% compare

See the full ranking of 83 places →

More health data for Bolivia

All data for Bolivia →

Frequently asked questions

What is prevalence of stunting, height for age, female in Bolivia?
Prevalence of stunting, height for age, female in Bolivia was 16.1% in 2016, according to 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'.
What is the highest prevalence of stunting, height for age, female recorded in Bolivia?
The highest recorded value was 38.1% in 1989.
What is the lowest prevalence of stunting, height for age, female recorded in Bolivia?
The lowest recorded value was 16.1% in 2016.
How does Bolivia rank for prevalence of stunting, height for age, female?
Bolivia ranks 50th out of 83 countries with data for 2016.
Is prevalence of stunting, height for age, female rising or falling in Bolivia?
Over the last ten years it is down 38.5%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
Where does this Bolivia data come from?
The figures come from 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', published as part of Prevalence of stunting, height for age, female (% of children under 5). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

Download this data

CSV · JSON — 7 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data).

Share, cite or embed this page

Cite this page

Prevalence of stunting, height for age, female in Bolivia. 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 17 September 2026, from https://health.statizoid.com/stat/prevalence-of-stunting-height-for-age-female-percent-of-children-under-5/bolivia/

Embed or link this data

Paste this into a page to link back to these figures. The data itself is free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data); please keep the attribution.

<a href="https://health.statizoid.com/stat/prevalence-of-stunting-height-for-age-female-percent-of-children-under-5/bolivia/">Prevalence of stunting, height for age, female in Bolivia</a> — Statizoid

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.