Prevalence of stunting, height for age in Nepal
Nepal: Prevalence of stunting, height for age was 26.0% in 2024. ▼ Falling
Prevalence of stunting, height for age in Nepal, 2000–2024
Source: Joint child Malnutrition Estimates (JME), UN Children's Fund (UNICEF).
Analysis
Nepal recorded 26.0% for prevalence of stunting, height for age in 2024. That is the lowest value across all 25 years on record.
Compared with earlier readings it is down 1.1% on the previous year and down 29.7% over ten years.
Over the whole period, prevalence of stunting, height for age in Nepal peaked at 55.9% in 2000 and was at its lowest, 26.0%, in 2024.
That places Nepal 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 in Nepal, year by year
| Year | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 55.9% | — |
| 2001 | 54.8% | -2.0% |
| 2002 | 53.7% | -2.0% |
| 2003 | 52.6% | -2.0% |
| 2004 | 51.4% | -2.3% |
| 2005 | 50.2% | -2.3% |
| 2006 | 48.9% | -2.6% |
| 2007 | 47.5% | -2.9% |
| 2008 | 46.0% | -3.2% |
| 2009 | 44.4% | -3.5% |
| 2010 | 42.8% | -3.6% |
| 2011 | 41.2% | -3.7% |
| 2012 | 39.7% | -3.6% |
| 2013 | 38.4% | -3.3% |
| 2014 | 37.0% | -3.6% |
| 2015 | 35.7% | -3.5% |
| 2016 | 34.2% | -4.2% |
| 2017 | 32.7% | -4.4% |
| 2018 | 31.1% | -4.9% |
| 2019 | 29.7% | -4.5% |
| 2020 | 28.5% | -4.0% |
| 2021 | 27.5% | -3.5% |
| 2022 | 26.9% | -2.2% |
| 2023 | 26.3% | -2.2% |
| 2024 | 26.0% | -1.1% |
Nepal compared with similar countries
- Nepal's 26.0% is above the median for lower middle income countries, which is 21.2%, 1.2× the median. (46 countries reporting)
- Nepal's 26.0% is above the median for South Asia, which is 21.5%, 1.2× the median. (6 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 50.5% | 44.4% | 55.9% | 10 |
| 2010s | 36.2% | 29.7% | 42.8% | 10 |
| 2020s | 27.0% | 26.0% | 28.5% | 5 |
Countries ranked near Nepal
More health data for Nepal
- Un projection of annual infant deaths, annual growth rate -1.95 % change on previous year (2100)
- Heat deaths vs projected death rates, annual growth rate 0.8518 % change on previous year (2090)
- Estimated changes in temperature-related death rates compared to projected death rates 1,326 deaths per 1,000 people (2090)
- Number of infants who die before age 1 955 deaths (2100)
- Neonatal tetanus - number of reported cases, gaps filled 3 (2025)
- Population ages 00-04, female, annual growth rate -1.17 % 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 0.0451 units per person (2025)
- Population ages 00-04, male, annual growth rate -2.11 % 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 Nepal?
- Prevalence of stunting, height for age in Nepal was 26.0% in 2024, according to Joint child Malnutrition Estimates (JME), UN Children's Fund (UNICEF).
- What is the highest prevalence of stunting, height for age recorded in Nepal?
- The highest recorded value was 55.9% in 2000.
- What is the lowest prevalence of stunting, height for age recorded in Nepal?
- The lowest recorded value was 26.0% in 2024.
- How does Nepal rank for prevalence of stunting, height for age?
- Nepal ranks 36th out of 162 countries with data for 2024.
- Is prevalence of stunting, height for age rising or falling in Nepal?
- Over the last ten years it is down 29.7%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Nepal 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.