Prevalence of stunting, height for age, male in South Africa
South Africa: Prevalence of stunting, height for age, male was 27.0% in 2024. ▼ Falling
Prevalence of stunting, height for age, male in South Africa, 2000–2024
Source: Joint child Malnutrition Estimates (JME), UN Children's Fund (UNICEF).
Analysis
In 2024, prevalence of stunting, height for age, male in South Africa stood at 27.0%.
That represents a change of up 1.9% on the previous year and up 9.3% over ten years.
Over the whole period, prevalence of stunting, height for age, male in South Africa peaked at 29.4% in 2000 and was at its lowest, 24.6%, in 2017.
South Africa ranks 37th of 162 countries on this measure, 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 South Africa, year by year
| Year | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 29.4% | — |
| 2001 | 29.1% | -1.0% |
| 2002 | 29.1% | +0.0% |
| 2003 | 29.1% | +0.0% |
| 2004 | 29.0% | -0.3% |
| 2005 | 28.9% | -0.3% |
| 2006 | 28.5% | -1.4% |
| 2007 | 27.9% | -2.1% |
| 2008 | 27.1% | -2.9% |
| 2009 | 26.3% | -3.0% |
| 2010 | 25.6% | -2.7% |
| 2011 | 25.0% | -2.3% |
| 2012 | 24.7% | -1.2% |
| 2013 | 24.7% | +0.0% |
| 2014 | 24.7% | +0.0% |
| 2015 | 24.7% | +0.0% |
| 2016 | 24.7% | +0.0% |
| 2017 | 24.6% | -0.4% |
| 2018 | 24.6% | +0.0% |
| 2019 | 24.7% | +0.4% |
| 2020 | 25.0% | +1.2% |
| 2021 | 25.5% | +2.0% |
| 2022 | 26.1% | +2.4% |
| 2023 | 26.5% | +1.5% |
| 2024 | 27.0% | +1.9% |
South Africa compared with similar countries
- South Africa's 27.0% is above the median for upper middle income countries, which is 8.7%, 3.1× the median. (54 countries reporting)
- South Africa's 27.0% is below the median for Sub-Saharan Africa, which is 27.3%, 99% of the median. (48 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 28.4% | 26.3% | 29.4% | 10 |
| 2010s | 24.8% | 24.6% | 25.6% | 10 |
| 2020s | 26.0% | 25.0% | 27.0% | 5 |
Countries ranked near South Africa
More health data for South Africa
- Un projection of annual infant deaths, annual growth rate -2.2 % change on previous year (2100)
- Heat deaths vs projected death rates, annual growth rate -0.1386 % change on previous year (2090)
- Estimated changes in temperature-related death rates compared to projected death rates 1,152 deaths per 1,000 people (2090)
- Number of infants who die before age 1 3,333 deaths (2100)
- Neonatal tetanus - number of reported cases, gaps filled 0 (2025)
- Population ages 00-04, female, annual growth rate -0.5504 % 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 0.045 units per person (2025)
- Population ages 00-04, male, annual growth rate 0.0003 % 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 Africa?
- Prevalence of stunting, height for age, male in South Africa was 27.0% 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 Africa?
- The highest recorded value was 29.4% in 2000.
- What is the lowest prevalence of stunting, height for age, male recorded in South Africa?
- The lowest recorded value was 24.6% in 2017.
- How does South Africa rank for prevalence of stunting, height for age, male?
- South Africa ranks 37th out of 162 countries with data for 2024.
- Is prevalence of stunting, height for age, male rising or falling in South Africa?
- Over the last ten years it is up 9.3%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this South Africa 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.