Prevalence of stunting, height for age, male in Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone: Prevalence of stunting, height for age, male was 27.6% in 2024. ▼ Falling
Prevalence of stunting, height for age, male in Sierra Leone, 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 Sierra Leone is 27.6%, measured in 2024. That is the lowest value across all 25 years on record.
The figure is down 19.1% over ten years.
Over the whole period, prevalence of stunting, height for age, male in Sierra Leone peaked at 41.2% in 2001 and was at its lowest, 27.6%, in 2023.
That places Sierra Leone 36th out of 162 countries with data for 2024, putting it in the top quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 25 years of available data.
Prevalence of stunting, height for age, male in Sierra Leone, year by year
| Year | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 41.1% | — |
| 2001 | 41.2% | +0.2% |
| 2002 | 41.2% | +0.0% |
| 2003 | 41.0% | -0.5% |
| 2004 | 40.8% | -0.5% |
| 2005 | 40.6% | -0.5% |
| 2006 | 40.2% | -1.0% |
| 2007 | 39.7% | -1.2% |
| 2008 | 39.1% | -1.5% |
| 2009 | 38.4% | -1.8% |
| 2010 | 37.6% | -2.1% |
| 2011 | 36.8% | -2.1% |
| 2012 | 35.9% | -2.4% |
| 2013 | 34.9% | -2.8% |
| 2014 | 34.1% | -2.3% |
| 2015 | 33.5% | -1.8% |
| 2016 | 32.8% | -2.1% |
| 2017 | 32.0% | -2.4% |
| 2018 | 31.0% | -3.1% |
| 2019 | 29.9% | -3.5% |
| 2020 | 29.0% | -3.0% |
| 2021 | 28.2% | -2.8% |
| 2022 | 27.8% | -1.4% |
| 2023 | 27.6% | -0.7% |
| 2024 | 27.6% | +0.0% |
Sierra Leone compared with similar countries
- Sierra Leone's 27.6% is below the median for low income countries, which is 33.7%, 82% of the median. (25 countries reporting)
- Sierra Leone's 27.6% is above the median for Sub-Saharan Africa, which is 27.3%, 1.0× the median. (48 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 40.3% | 38.4% | 41.2% | 10 |
| 2010s | 33.9% | 29.9% | 37.6% | 10 |
| 2020s | 28.0% | 27.6% | 29.0% | 5 |
Countries ranked near Sierra Leone
More health data for Sierra Leone
- Un projection of annual infant deaths, annual growth rate -2.34 % change on previous year (2100)
- Heat deaths vs projected death rates, annual growth rate 0.773 % change on previous year (2090)
- Estimated changes in temperature-related death rates compared to projected death rates 1,199 deaths per 1,000 people (2090)
- Number of infants who die before age 1 4,209 deaths (2100)
- Neonatal tetanus - number of reported cases, gaps filled 38 (2025)
- Population ages 00-04, female, annual growth rate 0.6447 % change on previous year (2025)
- Population ages 00-04, female, per unit of GDP 0.0001 units per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Population ages 00-04, female, per capita 0.0663 units per person (2025)
- Population ages 00-04, male, annual growth rate 0.6611 % change on previous year (2025)
- Population ages 00-04, male, per unit of GDP 0.0001 units per US$ of GDP (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is prevalence of stunting, height for age, male in Sierra Leone?
- Prevalence of stunting, height for age, male in Sierra Leone was 27.6% 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 Sierra Leone?
- The highest recorded value was 41.2% in 2001.
- What is the lowest prevalence of stunting, height for age, male recorded in Sierra Leone?
- The lowest recorded value was 27.6% in 2023.
- How does Sierra Leone rank for prevalence of stunting, height for age, male?
- Sierra Leone ranks 36th out of 162 countries with data for 2024.
- Is prevalence of stunting, height for age, male rising or falling in Sierra Leone?
- Over the last ten years it is down 19.1%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Sierra Leone 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.