Stunting prevalence (height-for-age <-2 standard deviations from the median of the WHO Child Growth Standards) among children under 5 years of age (JME modeled estimate) - SDG 2.2.1 by country

Countries reporting
27
Highest
44.59
Guatemala
Lowest
1.71
Chile
Median
9.43
Years covered
25
2000–2024
Data points
900

What the numbers show

Stunting prevalence (height-for-age <-2 standard deviations from the median of the WHO Child Growth Standards) among children under 5 years of age (JME modeled estimate) - SDG 2.2.1 is currently reported for 27 countries. The highest value is 44.59 in Guatemala; the lowest is 1.71 in Chile.

The median across all reporting countries is 9.43, and the mean is 10.76.

The gap between the highest and lowest reporting country is a factor of about 26.

Over the past decade 8 countries rose and 19 fell. The largest increase was in Costa Rica (up 49.7%), and the largest decrease in Paraguay (down 58.2%).

Stunting prevalence (height-for-age <-2 standard deviations from the): full country ranking

#Country LatestYear 10-year changeTrend
1 Guatemala 44.59 2024 down 4.6% falling
2 Haiti 21.55 2024 down 4.2% falling
3 Honduras 17.88 2024 down 14.1% falling
4 Ecuador 17.71 2024 down 20.0% falling
5 Panama 14.01 2024 down 26.4% falling
6 Mexico 13.06 2024 up 2.5% falling
7 Belize 11.69 2024 down 27.5% falling
8 Venezuela, Bolivarian Republic of 11.66 2024 up 1.2% falling
9 Colombia 11.58 2024 down 6.9% falling
10 Bolivia, Plurinational State of 10.73 2024 down 39.9% falling
11 Argentina 10.69 2024 up 43.4% rising
12 Costa Rica 10.65 2024 up 49.7% rising
13 Peru 10.62 2024 down 32.9% falling
14 El Salvador 9.43 2024 down 32.1% falling
15 Brazil 8.89 2024 up 30.8% flat
16 Suriname 7.95 2024 down 3.1% falling
17 Trinidad and Tobago 7.8 2024 down 9.3% rising
18 Cuba 7.32 2024 up 1.2% falling
19 Guyana 7.09 2024 down 45.6% falling
20 Jamaica 6.86 2024 up 8.8% flat
21 Uruguay 6.52 2024 down 22.2% falling
22 Barbados 5.77 2024 down 19.0% falling
23 Dominican Republic 5.63 2024 down 26.9% falling
24 Paraguay 3.2 2024 down 58.2% volatile
25 Turks and Caicos Islands 3.19 2024 down 15.4% falling
26 Saint Lucia 2.8 2024 up 19.7% falling
27 Chile 1.71 2024 down 5.3% falling

Regions and income groups

Aggregates are excluded from the country ranking above so that a region can never outrank a country.

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Stunting prevalence (height-for-age <-2 standard deviations from the) by country. Statizoid, drawing on UNICEF. Retrieved 09 September 2026, from https://health.statizoid.com/stat/stunting-prevalence-height-for-age-2-standard-deviations-from-the-median-of-the-who-child-2/

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About this data

Indicator
Stunting prevalence (height-for-age <-2 standard deviations from the median of the WHO Child Growth Standards) among children under 5 years of age (JME modeled estimate) - SDG 2.2.1
Source
UNICEF
Licence
UNICEF Terms of Use (attribution required)
Coverage
36 places, 900 data points, 2000–2024
Last refreshed