Childhood stunting rates by country
Share of children between 2 and 10 years old who are stunted, so shorter than would be expected for their age. Stunting is a sign of long-term malnutrition or poor health in early childhood.
What the numbers show
Childhood stunting rates is currently reported for 34 countries. The highest value is 45.4% in Ethiopia; the lowest is 0.3% in Netherlands.
The median across all reporting countries is 7.9%, and the mean is 14.3%.
The gap between the highest and lowest reporting country is a factor of about 151.
Over the past decade 7 countries rose and 24 fell. The largest increase was in Australia (up 183,413,000.0%), and the largest decrease in China (down 42.2%).
Childhood stunting rates: full country ranking
| # | Country | Latest | Year | 10-year change | Trend |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ethiopia | 45.4% | 2015 | down 17.8% | falling |
| 2 | Malawi | 40.7% | 2015 | down 27.3% | rising |
| 3 | India | 40.6% | 2015 | down 23.5% | falling |
| 4 | Philippines | 37.6% | 2015 | down 0.3% | falling |
| 5 | Bangladesh | 34.2% | 2015 | down 30.8% | falling |
| 6 | Myanmar | 33.0% | 2015 | down 17.0% | falling |
| 7 | Vietnam | 24.7% | 2015 | down 27.0% | falling |
| 8 | Haiti | 24.6% | 2015 | down 12.6% | falling |
| 9 | Kenya | 24.5% | 2015 | down 30.3% | falling |
| 10 | Egypt | 22.5% | 2015 | down 16.5% | falling |
| 11 | Ghana | 21.6% | 2015 | down 29.4% | rising |
| 12 | South Africa | 20.7% | 2015 | down 17.1% | rising |
| 13 | Sri Lanka | 17.3% | 2015 | down 5.0% | falling |
| 14 | Venezuela | 15.9% | 2005 | down 17.5% | falling |
| 15 | Colombia | 13.3% | 2015 | down 11.0% | volatile |
| 16 | Kazakhstan | 8.6% | 2015 | down 41.5% | flat |
| 17 | Uruguay | 8.1% | 2015 | down 21.9% | falling |
| 18 | Jordan | 7.7% | 2015 | down 1.3% | volatile |
| 19 | Brazil | 6.0% | 2015 | unchanged | volatile |
| 20 | Jamaica | 5.7% | 2015 | up 13.0% | falling |
| 21 | Taiwan | 4.1% | 1985 | down 41.3% | volatile |
| 22 | China | 4.1% | 2015 | down 42.2% | volatile |
| 23 | Kuwait | 3.8% | 2015 | up 2.8% | volatile |
| 24 | United Kingdom | 3.6% | 2005 | up 208.2% | volatile |
| 25 | United States | 3.2% | 2015 | up 35.6% | volatile |
| 26 | Japan | 2.8% | 2015 | down 20.3% | volatile |
| 27 | New Zealand | 2.3% | 1965 | — | volatile |
| 28 | Poland | 2.0% | 2015 | up 55.8% | volatile |
| 29 | Australia | 1.9% | 2005 | up 183,413,000.0% | volatile |
| 30 | South Korea | 1.7% | 2015 | up 57.6% | volatile |
| 31 | Belgium | 1.6% | 2015 | — | volatile |
| 32 | Spain | 1.2% | 2005 | down 15.9% | volatile |
| 33 | Czechia | 1.1% | 1995 | down 22.3% | falling |
| 34 | Netherlands | 0.3% | 2005 | down 25.0% | volatile |
About this data
Share of children between 2 and 10 years old who are stunted, so shorter than would be expected for their age. Stunting is a sign of long-term malnutrition or poor health in early childhood.