Prevalence of stunting, height for age in Europe & Central Asia (excluding high income)
Europe & Central Asia (excluding high income): Prevalence of stunting, height for age was 6.9% in 2024. ▼ Falling
Prevalence of stunting, height for age in Europe & Central Asia (excluding high income), 2000–2024
Source: Joint child Malnutrition Estimates (JME), UN Children's Fund (UNICEF).
Analysis
Europe & Central Asia (excluding high income) recorded 6.9% for prevalence of stunting, height for age in 2024. That is the lowest value across all 25 years on record.
That represents a change of down 2.1% on the previous year and down 39.2% over ten years.
Over the whole period, prevalence of stunting, height for age in Europe & Central Asia (excluding high income) peaked at 21.3% in 2000 and was at its lowest, 6.9%, in 2024.
That places Europe & Central Asia (excluding high income) 38th out of 45 groups with data for 2024, putting it 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 in Europe & Central Asia (excluding high income), year by year
| Year | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 21.3% | — |
| 2001 | 20.8% | -2.5% |
| 2002 | 20.3% | -2.5% |
| 2003 | 19.7% | -2.8% |
| 2004 | 19.2% | -2.8% |
| 2005 | 18.6% | -3.2% |
| 2006 | 17.8% | -3.9% |
| 2007 | 17.1% | -4.3% |
| 2008 | 16.1% | -5.7% |
| 2009 | 15.2% | -5.8% |
| 2010 | 14.2% | -6.2% |
| 2011 | 13.4% | -5.8% |
| 2012 | 12.7% | -5.2% |
| 2013 | 12.0% | -5.6% |
| 2014 | 11.3% | -5.6% |
| 2015 | 10.6% | -5.9% |
| 2016 | 10.1% | -5.2% |
| 2017 | 9.5% | -5.9% |
| 2018 | 8.9% | -6.2% |
| 2019 | 8.3% | -6.3% |
| 2020 | 7.9% | -5.1% |
| 2021 | 7.5% | -4.8% |
| 2022 | 7.2% | -4.5% |
| 2023 | 7.0% | -2.6% |
| 2024 | 6.9% | -2.1% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 18.6% | 15.2% | 21.3% | 10 |
| 2010s | 11.1% | 8.3% | 14.2% | 10 |
| 2020s | 7.3% | 6.9% | 7.9% | 5 |
Countries ranked near Europe & Central Asia (excluding high income)
- 35 Guinea 26.6% compare
- 36 Nepal 26.0% compare
- 37 Sierra Leone 25.2% compare
- 38 Bangladesh 25.1% compare
- 39 Myanmar 24.5% compare
- 40 South Africa 24.4% compare
- 41 Malaysia 24.3% compare
More health data for Europe & Central Asia (excluding high income)
- Population ages 40-44, male, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Population ages 10-14, female, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Population ages 45-49, male, annual growth rate 2.65 % change on previous year (2025)
- Population ages 45-49, female, per capita 0.0335 units per person (2025)
- Population ages 45-49, female, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Population ages 10-14, female, per capita 0.0381 units per person (2025)
- Population ages 45-49, female, annual growth rate 2.23 % change on previous year (2025)
- Population ages 40-44, male, per capita 0.0363 units per person (2025)
- Population ages 40-44, female, annual growth rate 1.72 % change on previous year (2025)
- Population ages 10-14, male, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2025)
All data for Europe & Central Asia (excluding high income) →
Frequently asked questions
- What is prevalence of stunting, height for age in Europe & Central Asia (excluding high income)?
- Prevalence of stunting, height for age in Europe & Central Asia (excluding high income) was 6.9% in 2024, according to Joint child Malnutrition Estimates (JME), UN Children's Fund (UNICEF).
- What is the highest prevalence of stunting, height for age recorded in Europe & Central Asia (excluding high income)?
- The highest recorded value was 21.3% in 2000.
- What is the lowest prevalence of stunting, height for age recorded in Europe & Central Asia (excluding high income)?
- The lowest recorded value was 6.9% in 2024.
- How does Europe & Central Asia (excluding high income) rank for prevalence of stunting, height for age?
- Europe & Central Asia (excluding high income) ranks 38th out of 45 groups with data for 2024.
- Is prevalence of stunting, height for age rising or falling in Europe & Central Asia (excluding high income)?
- Over the last ten years it is down 39.2%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Europe & Central Asia (excluding high income) 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 (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 is the percentage of children 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.