Prevalence of wasting, weight for height in World
World: Prevalence of wasting, weight for height was 6.6% in 2024. ▼ Falling
Prevalence of wasting, weight for height in World, 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
World recorded 6.6% for prevalence of wasting, weight for height in 2024. That is the lowest value across all 25 years on record.
That represents a change of down 0.6% on the previous year and down 8.6% over ten years.
Over the whole period, prevalence of wasting, weight for height in World peaked at 8.8% in 2000 and was at its lowest, 6.6%, in 2024.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 25 years of available data.
Prevalence of wasting, weight for height in World, year by year
| Year | % of children under 5 | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 8.8% | — |
| 2001 | 8.7% | -0.9% |
| 2002 | 8.6% | -0.9% |
| 2003 | 8.5% | -0.9% |
| 2004 | 8.4% | -1.2% |
| 2005 | 8.3% | -1.3% |
| 2006 | 8.2% | -1.3% |
| 2007 | 8.1% | -1.7% |
| 2008 | 7.9% | -1.7% |
| 2009 | 7.8% | -1.6% |
| 2010 | 7.7% | -1.7% |
| 2011 | 7.6% | -1.6% |
| 2012 | 7.5% | -1.5% |
| 2013 | 7.3% | -1.6% |
| 2014 | 7.2% | -1.5% |
| 2015 | 7.1% | -1.7% |
| 2016 | 7.0% | -1.4% |
| 2017 | 6.9% | -1.4% |
| 2018 | 6.8% | -1.2% |
| 2019 | 6.8% | -0.9% |
| 2020 | 6.7% | -0.7% |
| 2021 | 6.7% | -0.4% |
| 2022 | 6.7% | -0.3% |
| 2023 | 6.6% | -0.3% |
| 2024 | 6.6% | -0.6% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 8.3% | 7.8% | 8.8% | 10 |
| 2010s | 7.2% | 6.8% | 7.7% | 10 |
| 2020s | 6.7% | 6.6% | 6.7% | 5 |
Countries ranked near World
More health data for World
- Neonatal tetanus - number of reported cases, gaps filled 2,458 (2025)
- Population ages 00-04, female, annual growth rate -0.47 % 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 0.0381 units per person (2025)
- Population ages 00-04, male, annual growth rate -0.6031 % 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 0.0401 units per person (2025)
- Population ages 05-09, female, annual growth rate -0.915 % change on previous year (2025)
- Population ages 05-09, female, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Population ages 05-09, female, per capita 0.04 units per person (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is prevalence of wasting, weight for height in World?
- Prevalence of wasting, weight for height in World was 6.6% 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 wasting, weight for height recorded in World?
- The highest recorded value was 8.8% in 2000.
- What is the lowest prevalence of wasting, weight for height recorded in World?
- The lowest recorded value was 6.6% in 2024.
- How does World rank for prevalence of wasting, weight for height?
- World ranks 5th out of 14 groups with data for 2024.
- Is prevalence of wasting, weight for height rising or falling in World?
- Over the last ten years it is down 8.6%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this World 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 wasting, weight for height (% 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 wasting is the proportion of children under age 5 whose weight for height is more than two standard deviations below the median for the international reference population ages 0-59 months.