Weight-for-height <-2 SD in Malawi

Malawi: Weight-for-height <-2 SD was 2.1 in 2020. ▼ Falling

Latest (2020)
2.1
Change on year
down 44.2%
World rank
76th
of 98 countries
All-time high
8.9
in 1998
All-time low
1.5
in 2018
Years of data
16
1992–2020

Weight-for-height <-2 SD in Malawi, 1992–2020

24681992200620201992: 6.61995: 8.51998: 8.92000: 6.82002: 6.32004: 6.32006: 4.22009: 1.92010: 42014: 3.82015: 2.82016: 4.12017: 2.62018: 1.52019: 3.82020: 2.1

Source: UNICEF.

Analysis

Malawi recorded 2.1 for weight-for-height <-2 sd in 2020.

Compared with earlier readings it is down 44.2% on the previous year and down 48.0% over ten years.

Over the whole period, weight-for-height <-2 sd in Malawi peaked at 8.9 in 1998 and was at its lowest, 1.5, in 2018.

That places Malawi 76th out of 98 countries with data for 2020, putting it in the bottom quarter.

The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 16 years of available data.

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1990s 7.99 6.57 8.9 3
2000s 5.1 1.9 6.8 5
2010s 3.23 1.5 4.1 7
2020s 2.1 2.1 2.1 1

Countries ranked near Malawi

  1. 73 Morocco 2.4 compare
  2. 74 Jordan 2.25 compare
  3. 75 Dominican Republic 2.17 compare
  4. 77 Tunisia 2.08 compare
  5. 78 Bolivia 1.96 compare
  6. 79 China (People’s Republic of) 1.9 compare

See the full ranking of 154 places →

More health data for Malawi

All data for Malawi →

Frequently asked questions

What is weight-for-height <-2 sd in Malawi?
Weight-for-height <-2 sd in Malawi was 2.1 in 2020, according to UNICEF.
What is the highest weight-for-height <-2 sd recorded in Malawi?
The highest recorded value was 8.9 in 1998.
What is the lowest weight-for-height <-2 sd recorded in Malawi?
The lowest recorded value was 1.5 in 2018.
How does Malawi rank for weight-for-height <-2 sd?
Malawi ranks 76th out of 98 countries with data for 2020.
Is weight-for-height <-2 sd rising or falling in Malawi?
Over the last ten years it is down 48.0%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
Where does this Malawi data come from?
The figures come from UNICEF, published as part of Weight-for-height <-2 SD (wasting). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

Download this data

CSV · JSON — 16 observations, free to reuse under UNICEF Terms of Use (attribution required).

Share, cite or embed this page

Cite this page

Weight-for-height <-2 SD in Malawi. Statizoid, drawing on UNICEF. Retrieved 21 August 2026, from https://health.statizoid.com/stat/weight-for-height-2-sd-wasting/malawi/

Embed or link this data

Paste this into a page to link back to these figures. The data itself is free to reuse under UNICEF Terms of Use (attribution required); please keep the attribution.

<a href="https://health.statizoid.com/stat/weight-for-height-2-sd-wasting/malawi/">Weight-for-height <-2 SD in Malawi</a> — Statizoid

About this data

Indicator
Weight-for-height <-2 SD (wasting)
Source
UNICEF
Licence
UNICEF Terms of Use (attribution required)
Coverage
154 places, 2,355 data points, 1985–2024
Last refreshed