Prevalence of underweight, weight for age in High income
High income: Prevalence of underweight, weight for age was 0.8% in 2024. ▼ Falling
Prevalence of underweight, weight for age in High income, 2000–2024
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'. Measured in % of children under 5.
Analysis
High income recorded 0.8% for prevalence of underweight, weight for age in 2024. That is the lowest value across all 25 years on record.
That represents a change of down 1.2% on the previous year and down 13.8% over ten years.
Over the whole period, prevalence of underweight, weight for age in High income peaked at 1.2% in 2000 and was at its lowest, 0.8%, in 2024.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 25 years of available data.
Prevalence of underweight, weight for age in High income, year by year
| Year | % of children under 5 | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 1.2% | — |
| 2001 | 1.1% | -1.7% |
| 2002 | 1.1% | -1.8% |
| 2003 | 1.1% | -0.9% |
| 2004 | 1.1% | -1.8% |
| 2005 | 1.1% | -0.9% |
| 2006 | 1.1% | -1.9% |
| 2007 | 1.0% | -1.9% |
| 2008 | 1.0% | -1.0% |
| 2009 | 1.0% | -1.9% |
| 2010 | 1.0% | -1.0% |
| 2011 | 1.0% | -2.0% |
| 2012 | 1.0% | -1.0% |
| 2013 | 0.9% | -2.1% |
| 2014 | 0.9% | -1.1% |
| 2015 | 0.9% | -1.1% |
| 2016 | 0.9% | -2.2% |
| 2017 | 0.9% | -1.1% |
| 2018 | 0.9% | -1.1% |
| 2019 | 0.9% | -2.2% |
| 2020 | 0.9% | -1.1% |
| 2021 | 0.8% | -1.2% |
| 2022 | 0.8% | -1.2% |
| 2023 | 0.8% | -2.4% |
| 2024 | 0.8% | -1.2% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 1.1% | 1.0% | 1.2% | 10 |
| 2010s | 0.9% | 0.9% | 1.0% | 10 |
| 2020s | 0.8% | 0.8% | 0.9% | 5 |
Countries ranked near High income
- 9 Pakistan 23.1% compare
- 10 Madagascar 22.6% compare
- 11 Mauritania 22.4% compare
- 12 Bangladesh 21.7% compare
- 13 Ethiopia 21.2% compare
- 14 Benin 19.6% compare
- 15 Myanmar 19.5% compare
More health data for High income
- Population ages 35-39, female, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Population ages 40-44, male, annual growth rate 0.1569 % change on previous year (2025)
- Population ages 40-44, female, per capita 0.0338 units per person (2025)
- Population ages 40-44, female, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Population ages 40-44, female, annual growth rate -0.0702 % change on previous year (2025)
- Population ages 35-39, male, per capita 0.0367 units per person (2025)
- Population ages 35-39, male, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Population ages 35-39, male, annual growth rate 0.4572 % change on previous year (2025)
- Population ages 35-39, female, per capita 0.0337 units per person (2025)
- Population ages 30-34, female, annual growth rate -2 % change on previous year (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is prevalence of underweight, weight for age in High income?
- Prevalence of underweight, weight for age in High income was 0.8% in 2024, according to 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'.
- What is the highest prevalence of underweight, weight for age recorded in High income?
- The highest recorded value was 1.2% in 2000.
- What is the lowest prevalence of underweight, weight for age recorded in High income?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.8% in 2024.
- How does High income rank for prevalence of underweight, weight for age?
- High income ranks 12th out of 14 groups with data for 2024.
- Is prevalence of underweight, weight for age rising or falling in High income?
- Over the last ten years it is down 13.8%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this High income data come from?
- The figures come from 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', published as part of Prevalence of underweight, weight for age (% 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 underweight children is the percentage of children under age 5 whose weight for age is more than two standard deviations below the median for the international reference population ages 0-59 months. The data are based on the WHO's 2006 Child Growth Standards.