Prevalence of stunting, height for age (modeled estimate, %) in Turkey
Turkey: Prevalence of stunting, height for age (modeled estimate, %) was 5.5% in 2024. ▼ Falling
Prevalence of stunting, height for age in Turkey, 2000–2024
Source: Joint child Malnutrition Estimates (JME), UN Children's Fund (UNICEF).
Analysis
In 2024, prevalence of stunting, height for age in Turkey stood at 5.5%. That is the lowest value across all 25 years on record.
Compared with earlier readings it is down 1.8% on the previous year and down 32.1% over ten years.
Over the whole period, prevalence of stunting, height for age in Turkey peaked at 17.4% in 2000 and was at its lowest, 5.5%, in 2024.
That places Turkey 124th out of 162 countries 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 (modeled estimate, %) in Turkey, year by year
| Year | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 17.4% | — |
| 2001 | 17.0% | -2.3% |
| 2002 | 16.7% | -1.8% |
| 2003 | 16.4% | -1.8% |
| 2004 | 16.1% | -1.8% |
| 2005 | 15.6% | -3.1% |
| 2006 | 14.9% | -4.5% |
| 2007 | 14.1% | -5.4% |
| 2008 | 13.0% | -7.8% |
| 2009 | 11.9% | -8.5% |
| 2010 | 10.8% | -9.2% |
| 2011 | 9.9% | -8.3% |
| 2012 | 9.2% | -7.1% |
| 2013 | 8.6% | -6.5% |
| 2014 | 8.1% | -5.8% |
| 2015 | 7.6% | -6.2% |
| 2016 | 7.2% | -5.3% |
| 2017 | 6.8% | -5.6% |
| 2018 | 6.5% | -4.4% |
| 2019 | 6.1% | -6.2% |
| 2020 | 5.9% | -3.3% |
| 2021 | 5.7% | -3.4% |
| 2022 | 5.6% | -1.8% |
| 2023 | 5.6% | +0.0% |
| 2024 | 5.5% | -1.8% |
Turkey compared with similar countries
- Turkey's 5.5% is below the median for upper middle income countries, which is 8.0%, 69% of the median. (54 countries reporting)
- Turkey's 5.5% is above the median for Europe & Central Asia, which is 4.3%, 1.3× the median. (32 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 15.3% | 11.9% | 17.4% | 10 |
| 2010s | 8.1% | 6.1% | 10.8% | 10 |
| 2020s | 5.7% | 5.5% | 5.9% | 5 |
Countries ranked near Turkey
More health data for Turkey
- Un projection of annual infant deaths, annual growth rate -1.72 % change on previous year (2100)
- Heat deaths vs projected death rates, annual growth rate 0.5275 % change on previous year (2090)
- Un projection of annual infant deaths 858 (2100)
- Neonatal tetanus - number of reported cases, gaps filled 1 (2025)
- Population ages 00-04, female, annual growth rate -3.16 % 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 0.0298 units per person (2025)
- Population ages 00-04, male, annual growth rate -2.94 % change on previous year (2025)
- Population ages 00-04, male, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Population ages 00-04, male, per capita 0.0312 units per person (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is prevalence of stunting, height for age in Turkey?
- Prevalence of stunting, height for age in Turkey was 5.5% 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 Turkey?
- The highest recorded value was 17.4% in 2000.
- What is the lowest prevalence of stunting, height for age recorded in Turkey?
- The lowest recorded value was 5.5% in 2024.
- How does Turkey rank for prevalence of stunting, height for age?
- Turkey ranks 124th out of 162 countries with data for 2024.
- Is prevalence of stunting, height for age rising or falling in Turkey?
- Over the last ten years it is down 32.1%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Turkey 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.