Prevalence of stunting, height for age, male in South Korea
South Korea: Prevalence of stunting, height for age, male was 2.0% in 2024. ▼ Falling
Prevalence of stunting, height for age, male in South Korea, 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 South Korea is 2.0%, measured in 2024. That is the lowest value across all 25 years on record.
That represents a change of down 4.8% over ten years.
Over the whole period, prevalence of stunting, height for age, male in South Korea peaked at 2.8% in 2000 and was at its lowest, 2.0%, in 2015.
South Korea ranks 153rd 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 South Korea, year by year
| Year | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 2.8% | — |
| 2001 | 2.8% | +0.0% |
| 2002 | 2.8% | +0.0% |
| 2003 | 2.8% | +0.0% |
| 2004 | 2.7% | -3.6% |
| 2005 | 2.6% | -3.7% |
| 2006 | 2.6% | +0.0% |
| 2007 | 2.4% | -7.7% |
| 2008 | 2.4% | +0.0% |
| 2009 | 2.3% | -4.2% |
| 2010 | 2.2% | -4.3% |
| 2011 | 2.2% | +0.0% |
| 2012 | 2.1% | -4.5% |
| 2013 | 2.1% | +0.0% |
| 2014 | 2.1% | +0.0% |
| 2015 | 2.0% | -4.8% |
| 2016 | 2.0% | +0.0% |
| 2017 | 2.0% | +0.0% |
| 2018 | 2.0% | +0.0% |
| 2019 | 2.0% | +0.0% |
| 2020 | 2.0% | +0.0% |
| 2021 | 2.0% | +0.0% |
| 2022 | 2.0% | +0.0% |
| 2023 | 2.0% | +0.0% |
| 2024 | 2.0% | +0.0% |
South Korea compared with similar countries
- South Korea's 2.0% is below the median for high income countries, which is 3.9%, 51% of the median. (37 countries reporting)
- South Korea's 2.0% is below the median for East Asia & Pacific, which is 17.1%, 12% of the median. (27 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 2.6% | 2.3% | 2.8% | 10 |
| 2010s | 2.1% | 2.0% | 2.2% | 10 |
| 2020s | 2.0% | 2.0% | 2.0% | 5 |
Countries ranked near South Korea
More health data for South Korea
- Un projection of annual infant deaths, annual growth rate -1.43 % change on previous year (2100)
- Heat deaths vs projected death rates, annual growth rate 0.1935 % change on previous year (2090)
- Estimated changes in temperature-related death rates compared to projected death rates 2,072 deaths per 1,000 people (2090)
- Number of infants who die before age 1 69 deaths (2100)
- Neonatal tetanus - number of reported cases, gaps filled 0 (2025)
- Population ages 00-04, female, annual growth rate -2.66 % 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 0.0118 units per person (2025)
- Population ages 00-04, male, annual growth rate -2.76 % 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 South Korea?
- Prevalence of stunting, height for age, male in South Korea was 2.0% in 2024, according to Joint child Malnutrition Estimates (JME), UN Children's Fund (UNICEF).
- What is the highest prevalence of stunting, height for age, male recorded in South Korea?
- The highest recorded value was 2.8% in 2000.
- What is the lowest prevalence of stunting, height for age, male recorded in South Korea?
- The lowest recorded value was 2.0% in 2015.
- How does South Korea rank for prevalence of stunting, height for age, male?
- South Korea ranks 153rd out of 162 countries with data for 2024.
- Is prevalence of stunting, height for age, male rising or falling in South Korea?
- Over the last ten years it is down 4.8%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this South Korea 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.