Prevalence of stunting, height for age, male in Costa Rica
Costa Rica: Prevalence of stunting, height for age, male was 11.5% in 2024. ▲ Rising
Prevalence of stunting, height for age, male in Costa Rica, 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, male in Costa Rica is 11.5%, measured in 2024. That is the highest value across all 25 years on record.
The figure is up 4.5% on the previous year and up 47.4% over ten years.
Over the whole period, prevalence of stunting, height for age, male in Costa Rica peaked at 11.5% in 2024 and was at its lowest, 7.0%, in 2006.
That places Costa Rica 90th out of 162 countries with data for 2024, putting it in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 25 years of available data.
Prevalence of stunting, height for age, male in Costa Rica, year by year
| Year | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 7.8% | — |
| 2001 | 7.6% | -2.6% |
| 2002 | 7.5% | -1.3% |
| 2003 | 7.3% | -2.7% |
| 2004 | 7.2% | -1.4% |
| 2005 | 7.1% | -1.4% |
| 2006 | 7.0% | -1.4% |
| 2007 | 7.0% | +0.0% |
| 2008 | 7.0% | +0.0% |
| 2009 | 7.0% | +0.0% |
| 2010 | 7.0% | +0.0% |
| 2011 | 7.1% | +1.4% |
| 2012 | 7.3% | +2.8% |
| 2013 | 7.5% | +2.7% |
| 2014 | 7.8% | +4.0% |
| 2015 | 8.1% | +3.8% |
| 2016 | 8.4% | +3.7% |
| 2017 | 8.6% | +2.4% |
| 2018 | 8.9% | +3.5% |
| 2019 | 9.1% | +2.2% |
| 2020 | 9.4% | +3.3% |
| 2021 | 9.9% | +5.3% |
| 2022 | 10.5% | +6.1% |
| 2023 | 11.0% | +4.8% |
| 2024 | 11.5% | +4.5% |
Costa Rica compared with similar countries
- Costa Rica's 11.5% is above the median for high income countries, which is 3.9%, 2.9× the median. (37 countries reporting)
- Costa Rica's 11.5% is above the median for Latin America & Caribbean, which is 10.3%, 1.1× the median. (27 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 7.2% | 7.0% | 7.8% | 10 |
| 2010s | 8.0% | 7.0% | 9.1% | 10 |
| 2020s | 10.5% | 9.4% | 11.5% | 5 |
Countries ranked near Costa Rica
More health data for Costa Rica
- Un projection of annual infant deaths, annual growth rate -2.78 % change on previous year (2100)
- Heat deaths vs projected death rates, annual growth rate 0.4617 % change on previous year (2090)
- Estimated changes in temperature-related death rates compared to projected death rates 1,632 deaths per 1,000 people (2090)
- Number of infants who die before age 1 35 deaths (2100)
- Neonatal tetanus - number of reported cases, gaps filled 0 (2025)
- Population ages 00-04, female, annual growth rate -3.42 % 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 0.0248 units per person (2025)
- Population ages 00-04, male, annual growth rate -3.37 % 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 Costa Rica?
- Prevalence of stunting, height for age, male in Costa Rica was 11.5% 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 Costa Rica?
- The highest recorded value was 11.5% in 2024.
- What is the lowest prevalence of stunting, height for age, male recorded in Costa Rica?
- The lowest recorded value was 7.0% in 2006.
- How does Costa Rica rank for prevalence of stunting, height for age, male?
- Costa Rica ranks 90th out of 162 countries with data for 2024.
- Is prevalence of stunting, height for age, male rising or falling in Costa Rica?
- Over the last ten years it is up 47.4%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Costa Rica 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.