Prevalence of stunting, height for age in Peru
Peru: Prevalence of stunting, height for age was 10.6% in 2024. ▼ Falling
Prevalence of stunting, height for age in Peru, 2000–2024
Source: Joint child Malnutrition Estimates (JME), UN Children's Fund (UNICEF).
Analysis
In 2024, prevalence of stunting, height for age in Peru stood at 10.6%. That is the lowest value across all 25 years on record.
That represents a change of down 0.9% on the previous year and down 32.9% over ten years.
Over the whole period, prevalence of stunting, height for age in Peru peaked at 34.4% in 2000 and was at its lowest, 10.6%, in 2024.
That places Peru 89th out of 162 countries with data for 2024, putting it 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 Peru, year by year
| Year | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 34.4% | — |
| 2001 | 33.5% | -2.6% |
| 2002 | 32.4% | -3.3% |
| 2003 | 31.1% | -4.0% |
| 2004 | 29.8% | -4.2% |
| 2005 | 28.3% | -5.0% |
| 2006 | 27.1% | -4.2% |
| 2007 | 25.6% | -5.5% |
| 2008 | 24.1% | -5.9% |
| 2009 | 22.6% | -6.2% |
| 2010 | 21.1% | -6.6% |
| 2011 | 19.5% | -7.6% |
| 2012 | 18.1% | -7.2% |
| 2013 | 16.9% | -6.6% |
| 2014 | 15.8% | -6.5% |
| 2015 | 14.9% | -5.7% |
| 2016 | 14.0% | -6.0% |
| 2017 | 13.2% | -5.7% |
| 2018 | 12.4% | -6.1% |
| 2019 | 11.8% | -4.8% |
| 2020 | 11.3% | -4.2% |
| 2021 | 11.0% | -2.7% |
| 2022 | 10.9% | -0.9% |
| 2023 | 10.7% | -1.8% |
| 2024 | 10.6% | -0.9% |
Peru compared with similar countries
- Peru's 10.6% is above the median for upper middle income countries, which is 8.0%, 1.3× the median. (54 countries reporting)
- Peru's 10.6% is above the median for Latin America & Caribbean, which is 9.4%, 1.1× the median. (27 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 28.9% | 22.6% | 34.4% | 10 |
| 2010s | 15.8% | 11.8% | 21.1% | 10 |
| 2020s | 10.9% | 10.6% | 11.3% | 5 |
Countries ranked near Peru
- 86 Kyrgyzstan 11.0% compare
- 87 Argentina 10.7% compare
- 87 Bolivia, Plurinational State of 10.7% compare
- 89 Costa Rica 10.6% compare
- 91 Lebanon 10.1% compare
- 91 Sri Lanka 10.1% compare
More health data for Peru
- Un projection of annual infant deaths, annual growth rate -1.88 % change on previous year (2100)
- Heat deaths vs projected death rates, annual growth rate 0.5045 % change on previous year (2090)
- Estimated changes in temperature-related death rates compared to projected death rates 1,235 deaths per 1,000 people (2090)
- Number of infants who die before age 1 782 deaths (2100)
- Neonatal tetanus - number of reported cases, gaps filled 2 (2025)
- Population ages 00-04, female, annual growth rate -0.3081 % 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 0.038 units per person (2025)
- Population ages 00-04, male, annual growth rate -0.302 % 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 Peru?
- Prevalence of stunting, height for age in Peru was 10.6% 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 Peru?
- The highest recorded value was 34.4% in 2000.
- What is the lowest prevalence of stunting, height for age recorded in Peru?
- The lowest recorded value was 10.6% in 2024.
- How does Peru rank for prevalence of stunting, height for age?
- Peru ranks 89th out of 162 countries with data for 2024.
- Is prevalence of stunting, height for age rising or falling in Peru?
- Over the last ten years it is down 32.9%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Peru 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.