Prevalence of stunting, height for age in North Korea
North Korea: Prevalence of stunting, height for age was 16.6% in 2024. ▼ Falling
Prevalence of stunting, height for age in North 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 in North Korea is 16.6%, measured in 2024. That is the lowest value across all 25 years on record.
That represents a change of down 2.4% on the previous year and down 29.1% over ten years.
Over the whole period, prevalence of stunting, height for age in North Korea peaked at 52.5% in 2000 and was at its lowest, 16.6%, in 2024.
North Korea ranks 65th 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 North Korea, year by year
| Year | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 52.5% | — |
| 2001 | 51.1% | -2.7% |
| 2002 | 49.4% | -3.3% |
| 2003 | 46.7% | -5.5% |
| 2004 | 44.2% | -5.4% |
| 2005 | 41.7% | -5.7% |
| 2006 | 39.1% | -6.2% |
| 2007 | 36.5% | -6.6% |
| 2008 | 33.8% | -7.4% |
| 2009 | 31.4% | -7.1% |
| 2010 | 29.2% | -7.0% |
| 2011 | 27.3% | -6.5% |
| 2012 | 25.8% | -5.5% |
| 2013 | 24.5% | -5.0% |
| 2014 | 23.4% | -4.5% |
| 2015 | 22.4% | -4.3% |
| 2016 | 21.4% | -4.5% |
| 2017 | 20.5% | -4.2% |
| 2018 | 19.6% | -4.4% |
| 2019 | 18.8% | -4.1% |
| 2020 | 18.2% | -3.2% |
| 2021 | 17.7% | -2.7% |
| 2022 | 17.3% | -2.3% |
| 2023 | 17.0% | -1.7% |
| 2024 | 16.6% | -2.4% |
North Korea compared with similar countries
- North Korea's 16.6% is below the median for low income countries, which is 31.5%, 53% of the median. (25 countries reporting)
- North Korea's 16.6% is above the median for East Asia & Pacific, which is 16.0%, 1.0× the median. (27 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 42.6% | 31.4% | 52.5% | 10 |
| 2010s | 23.3% | 18.8% | 29.2% | 10 |
| 2020s | 17.4% | 16.6% | 18.2% | 5 |
Countries ranked near North Korea
More health data for North Korea
- Un projection of annual infant deaths, annual growth rate -1.16 % change on previous year (2100)
- Heat deaths vs projected death rates, annual growth rate -0.2456 % change on previous year (2090)
- Estimated changes in temperature-related death rates compared to projected death rates 1,462 deaths per 1,000 people (2090)
- Number of infants who die before age 1 767 deaths (2100)
- Deaths in armed conflicts by region 0 deaths (2026)
- Deaths in armed conflicts based on where they occurred 0 deaths (2026)
- Population ages 00-04, female, per capita 0.031 units per person (2025)
- Population ages 00-04, male, annual growth rate -0.6303 % change on previous year (2025)
- Population ages 00-04, female, annual growth rate -0.6995 % change on previous year (2025)
- Neonatal tetanus - number of reported cases, gaps filled 0 (2022)
Frequently asked questions
- What is prevalence of stunting, height for age in North Korea?
- Prevalence of stunting, height for age in North Korea was 16.6% in 2024, according to Joint child Malnutrition Estimates (JME), UN Children's Fund (UNICEF).
- What is the highest prevalence of stunting, height for age recorded in North Korea?
- The highest recorded value was 52.5% in 2000.
- What is the lowest prevalence of stunting, height for age recorded in North Korea?
- The lowest recorded value was 16.6% in 2024.
- How does North Korea rank for prevalence of stunting, height for age?
- North Korea ranks 65th out of 162 countries with data for 2024.
- Is prevalence of stunting, height for age rising or falling in North Korea?
- Over the last ten years it is down 29.1%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this North 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 (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.