Statizoid

Prevalence of stunting, height for age (% of children under 5) by country

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...

Countries reporting
97
Highest
52.8%
Burundi
Lowest
0.9%
Korea
Median
18.2%
Years covered
41
1984–2024
Data points
955

What the numbers show

Prevalence of stunting, height for age (% of children under 5) is currently reported for 97 countries. The highest value is 52.8% in Burundi; the lowest is 0.9% in Korea.

The median across all reporting countries is 18.2%, and the mean is 20.6%.

The gap between the highest and lowest reporting country is a factor of about 59.

Over the past decade 17 countries rose and 78 fell. The largest increase was in United States of America (up 72.7%), and the largest decrease in Uzbekistan (down 66.8%).

Prevalence of stunting, height for age: full country ranking

#Country LatestYear 10-year changeTrend
1 Burundi 52.8% 2024 up 1.5% flat
2 Yemen 48.5% 2022 up 4.1% falling
3 Niger 47.7% 2022 up 19.5% flat
4 Timor-Leste 46.7% 2020 down 18.8% falling
5 Guatemala 46.0% 2021 down 10.7% falling
6 Congo, Democratic Republic of the 44.7% 2023 up 4.7% falling
7 Afghanistan 44.6% 2022 up 10.4% falling
8 Madagascar 39.8% 2021 down 20.2% falling
9 Central African Republic 37.9% 2022 down 4.5% falling
10 Pakistan 37.6% 2018 down 13.8% falling
11 Ethiopia 36.8% 2019 down 17.1% falling
12 Mozambique 36.7% 2022 down 14.5% falling
13 Lesotho 35.6% 2024 up 6.6% falling
14 India 35.5% 2020 down 25.7% falling
14 Malawi 35.5% 2020 down 24.9% falling
16 Zambia 34.6% 2018 down 24.5% falling
17 Benin 34.1% 2021 down 8.8% flat
18 Nigeria 33.8% 2021 down 5.6% falling
19 Rwanda 33.1% 2020 down 25.3% falling
20 Lao People's Democratic Republic 32.8% 2023 down 25.8% falling
21 Chad 31.9% 2022 down 17.6% falling
22 Tanzania, United Republic of 30.0% 2022 down 14.3% falling
23 Liberia 29.8% 2019 down 17.5% falling
24 Cameroon 28.9% 2018 down 23.1% falling
25 Guinea-Bissau 28.1% 2019 up 1.8% falling
26 Syrian Arab Republic 27.9% 2010 up 14.8% falling
27 Myanmar 26.7% 2018 down 23.9% falling
27 Philippines 26.7% 2021 down 20.1% falling
29 Sierra Leone 26.3% 2021 down 19.6% falling
30 Guinea 26.1% 2022 down 16.1% falling
31 Zimbabwe 25.9% 2024 down 6.2% falling
32 Djibouti 25.5% 2023 down 8.9% falling
33 Mali 25.1% 2024 down 10.7% falling
33 Mauritania 25.1% 2022 up 8.2% falling
35 Nepal 24.8% 2022 down 38.2% falling
36 Uganda 24.4% 2022 down 27.6% falling
37 Togo 23.8% 2017 down 20.4% falling
38 Bangladesh 23.6% 2022 down 36.2% falling
39 Côte d'Ivoire 23.4% 2021 down 14.0% flat
40 Haiti 22.0% 2023 up 0.5% falling
40 Indonesia 22.0% 2023 down 39.6% falling
42 Cambodia 21.9% 2021 down 45.0% falling
43 South Africa 21.3% 2017 down 14.8% falling
44 Malaysia 21.2% 2022 up 19.1% rising
45 Burkina Faso 21.1% 2021 down 39.0% falling
46 Eswatini 20.0% 2021 down 35.3% falling
47 Korea, Democratic People's Republic of 19.1% 2017 down 41.0% falling
48 Honduras 18.7% 2019 down 37.2% falling
49 Comoros 18.2% 2022 down 41.5% falling
49 Viet Nam 18.2% 2023 down 29.7% falling
51 Bhutan 17.9% 2023 down 46.6% falling
52 Kenya 17.6% 2022 down 33.1% falling
53 Gambia 17.5% 2020 down 25.2% falling
53 Senegal 17.5% 2023 up 6.1% falling
55 Ecuador 17.4% 2024 down 27.2% falling
55 Ghana 17.4% 2022 down 23.7% falling
57 Nicaragua 17.3% 2012 down 31.1% falling
58 Bolivia, Plurinational State of 16.1% 2016 down 40.6% falling
59 Maldives 15.3% 2017 down 19.5% falling
60 Morocco 14.2% 2019 down 4.7% falling
61 Kyrgyzstan 14.1% 2023 down 21.2% falling
62 Tajikistan 13.7% 2023 down 49.1% falling
63 Venezuela, Bolivarian Republic of 13.4% 2009 down 26.8% flat
64 Egypt 12.8% 2021 down 58.3% falling
64 Romania 12.8% 2002 up 14.3% rising
66 Colombia 12.7% 2016 down 20.6% falling
67 Iraq 12.6% 2018 down 54.2% falling
68 Mexico 12.5% 2022 down 8.1% falling
69 Thailand 12.4% 2022 down 24.4% falling
70 Peru 11.5% 2023 down 34.7% falling
71 Oman 11.4% 2017 up 16.3% falling
72 Saudi Arabia 10.8% 2020 down 21.2% falling
73 Sri Lanka 10.5% 2024 down 28.1% falling
74 El Salvador 10.0% 2021 down 51.9% falling
75 Algeria 9.8% 2019 down 36.4% falling
76 Guyana 9.5% 2019 down 50.8% falling
77 Armenia 9.4% 2016 down 47.5% falling
78 Mongolia 8.8% 2023 down 18.5% falling
79 Palestine, State of 8.7% 2020 down 20.2% falling
80 Tunisia 8.4% 2018 down 6.7% falling
81 Jordan 8.2% 2023 up 5.1% falling
82 Kazakhstan 8.0% 2015 down 54.3% falling
83 Uruguay 6.9% 2018 down 41.5% falling
84 Dominican Republic 6.7% 2019 down 33.7% falling
85 Azerbaijan 6.6% 2023 down 62.9% falling
86 Uzbekistan 6.5% 2021 down 66.8% volatile
87 Türkiye 6.0% 2018 down 52.0% falling
88 Iran, Islamic Republic of 4.8% 2017 down 32.4% volatile
88 China 4.8% 2017 down 51.0% volatile
90 Jamaica 4.6% 2018 down 33.3% falling
91 United States of America 3.8% 2022 up 72.7% rising
92 Kuwait 3.2% 2023 down 42.9% rising
93 Finland 2.8% 2023 up 55.6% rising
94 United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland 2.0% 2019 unchanged flat
95 Chile 1.8% 2014 down 25.0% volatile
96 Belarus 1.2% 2023 — volatile
97 Korea 0.9% 2020 down 30.8% falling

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Prevalence of stunting, height for age by country. Statizoid, drawing on UNICEF, WHO, World Bank: Joint child Malnutrition Estimates (JME). Aggregation is based on UNICEF, WHO, and the World Bank harmonized dataset (adjusted, comparable data) and methodology., UN Children'. Retrieved 11 September 2026, from https://health.statizoid.com/stat/prevalence-of-stunting-height-for-age-percent-of-children-under-5/

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About this data

Indicator
Prevalence of stunting, height for age (% of children under 5)
Unit
% of children under 5
Source
UNICEF, WHO, World Bank: Joint child Malnutrition Estimates (JME). Aggregation is based on UNICEF, WHO, and the World Bank harmonized dataset (adjusted, comparable data) and methodology., UN Children'
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data)
Coverage
97 places, 955 data points, 1984–2024
Last refreshed

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.