Prevalence of stunting, height for age in Kenya
Kenya: Prevalence of stunting, height for age was 17.9% in 2024. ▼ Falling
Prevalence of stunting, height for age in Kenya, 2000–2024
Source: Joint child Malnutrition Estimates (JME), UN Children's Fund (UNICEF).
Analysis
Kenya recorded 17.9% 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 1.6% on the previous year and down 32.5% over ten years.
Over the whole period, prevalence of stunting, height for age in Kenya peaked at 38.6% in 2000 and was at its lowest, 17.9%, in 2024.
Kenya ranks 58th of 162 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 25 years of available data.
Prevalence of stunting, height for age in Kenya, year by year
| Year | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 38.6% | — |
| 2001 | 38.5% | -0.3% |
| 2002 | 38.5% | +0.0% |
| 2003 | 38.2% | -0.8% |
| 2004 | 37.8% | -1.0% |
| 2005 | 37.3% | -1.3% |
| 2006 | 36.7% | -1.6% |
| 2007 | 35.7% | -2.7% |
| 2008 | 34.6% | -3.1% |
| 2009 | 33.3% | -3.8% |
| 2010 | 31.9% | -4.2% |
| 2011 | 30.4% | -4.7% |
| 2012 | 29.0% | -4.6% |
| 2013 | 27.7% | -4.5% |
| 2014 | 26.5% | -4.3% |
| 2015 | 25.4% | -4.2% |
| 2016 | 24.3% | -4.3% |
| 2017 | 23.1% | -4.9% |
| 2018 | 22.0% | -4.8% |
| 2019 | 20.9% | -5.0% |
| 2020 | 20.0% | -4.3% |
| 2021 | 19.2% | -4.0% |
| 2022 | 18.7% | -2.6% |
| 2023 | 18.2% | -2.7% |
| 2024 | 17.9% | -1.6% |
Kenya compared with similar countries
- Kenya's 17.9% is below the median for lower middle income countries, which is 21.2%, 84% of the median. (46 countries reporting)
- Kenya's 17.9% is below the median for Sub-Saharan Africa, which is 24.8%, 72% of the median. (48 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 36.9% | 33.3% | 38.6% | 10 |
| 2010s | 26.1% | 20.9% | 31.9% | 10 |
| 2020s | 18.8% | 17.9% | 20.0% | 5 |
Countries ranked near Kenya
More health data for Kenya
- Un projection of annual infant deaths, annual growth rate -1.44 % change on previous year (2100)
- Heat deaths vs projected death rates, annual growth rate 0.6026 % change on previous year (2090)
- Estimated changes in temperature-related death rates compared to projected death rates 1,119 deaths per 1,000 people (2090)
- Number of infants who die before age 1 16,059 deaths (2100)
- Neonatal tetanus - number of reported cases, gaps filled 89 (2025)
- Population ages 00-04, female, annual growth rate 1.28 % 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 0.0621 units per person (2025)
- Population ages 00-04, male, annual growth rate 1.28 % 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 in Kenya?
- Prevalence of stunting, height for age in Kenya was 17.9% 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 Kenya?
- The highest recorded value was 38.6% in 2000.
- What is the lowest prevalence of stunting, height for age recorded in Kenya?
- The lowest recorded value was 17.9% in 2024.
- How does Kenya rank for prevalence of stunting, height for age?
- Kenya ranks 58th out of 162 countries with data for 2024.
- Is prevalence of stunting, height for age rising or falling in Kenya?
- Over the last ten years it is down 32.5%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Kenya 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.