Prevalence of stunting, height for age, male in Bulgaria
Bulgaria: Prevalence of stunting, height for age, male was 5.9% in 2024. ▼ Falling
Prevalence of stunting, height for age, male in Bulgaria, 2000–2024
Source: Joint child Malnutrition Estimates (JME), UN Children's Fund (UNICEF).
Analysis
Bulgaria recorded 5.9% for prevalence of stunting, height for age, male in 2024. That is the lowest value across all 25 years on record.
Compared with earlier readings it is down 18.1% over ten years.
Over the whole period, prevalence of stunting, height for age, male in Bulgaria peaked at 9.4% in 2002 and was at its lowest, 5.9%, in 2022.
Bulgaria ranks 125th of 162 countries on this measure, in the bottom quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 25 years of available data.
Prevalence of stunting, height for age, male in Bulgaria, year by year
| Year | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 9.2% | — |
| 2001 | 9.3% | +1.1% |
| 2002 | 9.4% | +1.1% |
| 2003 | 9.4% | +0.0% |
| 2004 | 9.4% | +0.0% |
| 2005 | 9.3% | -1.1% |
| 2006 | 9.2% | -1.1% |
| 2007 | 9.0% | -2.2% |
| 2008 | 8.8% | -2.2% |
| 2009 | 8.5% | -3.4% |
| 2010 | 8.1% | -4.7% |
| 2011 | 7.8% | -3.7% |
| 2012 | 7.6% | -2.6% |
| 2013 | 7.4% | -2.6% |
| 2014 | 7.2% | -2.7% |
| 2015 | 7.1% | -1.4% |
| 2016 | 6.9% | -2.8% |
| 2017 | 6.7% | -2.9% |
| 2018 | 6.5% | -3.0% |
| 2019 | 6.3% | -3.1% |
| 2020 | 6.1% | -3.2% |
| 2021 | 6.0% | -1.6% |
| 2022 | 5.9% | -1.7% |
| 2023 | 5.9% | +0.0% |
| 2024 | 5.9% | +0.0% |
Bulgaria compared with similar countries
- Bulgaria's 5.9% is above the median for high income countries, which is 3.9%, 1.5× the median. (37 countries reporting)
- Bulgaria's 5.9% is above the median for Europe & Central Asia, which is 4.6%, 1.3× the median. (32 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 9.2% | 8.5% | 9.4% | 10 |
| 2010s | 7.2% | 6.3% | 8.1% | 10 |
| 2020s | 6.0% | 5.9% | 6.1% | 5 |
Countries ranked near Bulgaria
- 123 Dominican Republic 6.2% compare
- 124 Qatar 6.1% compare
- 125 Cape Verde 5.9% compare
- 127 Japan 5.8% compare
- 127 Turkey 5.8% compare
More health data for Bulgaria
- Un projection of annual infant deaths, annual growth rate -2.5 % change on previous year (2100)
- Heat deaths vs projected death rates, annual growth rate -0.615 % change on previous year (2090)
- Estimated changes in temperature-related death rates compared to projected death rates 1,422 deaths per 1,000 people (2090)
- Number of infants who die before age 1 39 deaths (2100)
- Neonatal tetanus - number of reported cases, gaps filled 0 (2025)
- Population ages 00-04, female, annual growth rate 0.2564 % 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 0.0222 units per person (2025)
- Population ages 00-04, male, annual growth rate 0.3643 % 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, male in Bulgaria?
- Prevalence of stunting, height for age, male in Bulgaria was 5.9% in 2024, according to Joint child Malnutrition Estimates (JME), UN Children's Fund (UNICEF).
- What is the highest prevalence of stunting, height for age, male recorded in Bulgaria?
- The highest recorded value was 9.4% in 2002.
- What is the lowest prevalence of stunting, height for age, male recorded in Bulgaria?
- The lowest recorded value was 5.9% in 2022.
- How does Bulgaria rank for prevalence of stunting, height for age, male?
- Bulgaria ranks 125th out of 162 countries with data for 2024.
- Is prevalence of stunting, height for age, male rising or falling in Bulgaria?
- Over the last ten years it is down 18.1%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Bulgaria 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, male (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, male, is the percentage of boys 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.