Malnutrition: Number of children who are stunted by country

The number of children younger than five who are stunted – significantly shorter than the average for their age, as a consequence of poor nutrition or repeated infection.

Countries reporting
160
Highest
37.40 million
India
Lowest
100
Tuvalu
Median
90,250
Years covered
25
2000–2024
Data points
4,050

What the numbers show

Malnutrition: Number of children who are stunted is currently reported for 160 countries. The highest value is 37.40 million in India; the lowest is 100 in Tuvalu.

The median across all reporting countries is 90,250, and the mean is 932,489.

Over the past decade 36 countries rose and 120 fell. The largest increase was in Angola (up 81.8%), and the largest decrease in Tonga (down 75.0%).

Malnutrition: Number of children who are stunted: full country ranking

#Country LatestYear 10-year changeTrend
1 India 37.40 million 2024 down 25.1% falling
2 Nigeria 11.44 million 2024 down 2.2% rising
3 Pakistan 10.74 million 2024 down 18.2% flat
4 Democratic Republic of Congo 8.72 million 2024 up 40.8% rising
5 Ethiopia 6.89 million 2024 up 9.1% falling
6 Indonesia 5.03 million 2024 down 36.5% falling
7 Bangladesh 4.19 million 2024 down 24.3% falling
8 Tanzania 3.30 million 2024 up 8.2% rising
9 Yemen 3.05 million 2024 up 36.2% rising
10 Angola 3.03 million 2024 up 81.8% rising
11 Afghanistan 2.85 million 2024 up 16.3% rising
12 Sudan 2.70 million 2024 up 19.7% rising
13 Philippines 2.54 million 2024 down 33.9% falling
14 China 2.35 million 2024 down 60.8% volatile
15 Niger 2.31 million 2024 up 35.0% rising
16 Mozambique 2.14 million 2024 up 9.9% rising
17 Uganda 1.90 million 2024 down 8.1% falling
18 Madagascar 1.79 million 2024 down 1.3% flat
19 Egypt 1.52 million 2024 down 40.9% falling
20 South Africa 1.44 million 2024 up 14.9% flat
21 Vietnam 1.35 million 2024 down 28.2% falling
22 Mexico 1.34 million 2024 down 7.7% falling
23 Kenya 1.27 million 2024 down 31.9% falling
24 Cameroon 1.21 million 2024 up 5.3% rising
25 Burundi 1.21 million 2024 up 5.7% rising
26 Brazil 1.16 million 2024 up 18.1% falling
27 Chad 1.16 million 2024 up 14.4% rising
28 Myanmar 1.08 million 2024 down 19.2% falling
29 Malawi 1.04 million 2024 down 10.0% falling
30 Zambia 1.04 million 2024 down 3.2% falling
31 Mali 986,900 2024 up 2.2% rising
32 Cote d'Ivoire 939,900 2024 down 14.8% falling
33 Somalia 835,000 2024 up 17.4% rising
34 Guatemala 828,500 2024 down 10.3% falling
35 United States 780,800 2024 up 45.4% rising
36 Benin 731,100 2024 up 15.3% rising
37 Nepal 719,300 2024 down 34.1% falling
38 Ghana 661,900 2024 down 20.7% falling
39 Burkina Faso 656,600 2024 down 30.1% falling
40 Guinea 591,300 2024 down 4.4% rising
41 Papua New Guinea 586,900 2024 up 8.4% rising
42 Syria 577,000 2024 down 23.2% falling
43 Rwanda 564,300 2024 down 12.5% falling
44 Zimbabwe 553,200 2024 down 18.4% falling
45 Malaysia 540,700 2024 up 11.7% rising
46 Iraq 528,200 2024 down 46.7% falling
47 South Sudan 462,600 2024 down 19.4% falling
48 Morocco 430,600 2024 down 15.8% falling
49 Senegal 428,300 2024 up 2.3% rising
50 Algeria 414,100 2024 down 18.9% falling
51 Colombia 410,900 2024 down 8.8% falling
52 Cambodia 395,500 2024 down 27.0% falling
53 Central African Republic 385,300 2024 up 9.9% rising
54 Thailand 374,000 2024 down 30.1% falling
55 Togo 311,600 2024 up 1.1% rising
56 Turkey 304,500 2024 down 41.1% falling
57 Uzbekistan 298,200 2024 down 19.0% falling
58 Sierra Leone 295,600 2024 down 13.0% falling
59 Saudi Arabia 295,100 2024 down 13.6% rising
60 Iran 290,400 2024 down 24.6% falling
61 Peru 285,200 2024 down 35.5% falling
62 North Korea 283,200 2024 down 26.0% falling
63 Argentina 278,300 2024 up 0.5% flat
64 Haiti 265,200 2024 down 5.7% falling
65 Venezuela 243,700 2024 down 26.3% falling
66 Ecuador 243,500 2024 down 30.9% falling
67 Laos 236,300 2024 down 20.4% falling
68 Eritrea 224,400 2024 down 6.0% rising
69 Liberia 210,100 2024 down 11.9% falling
70 Japan 207,500 2024 down 37.1% falling
71 Honduras 204,400 2024 down 8.9% falling
72 Mauritania 175,000 2024 up 7.6% rising
73 Tajikistan 174,400 2024 down 36.8% falling
74 Sri Lanka 163,600 2024 down 37.6% falling
75 Ukraine 147,100 2024 down 65.3% falling
76 Congo 146,000 2024 down 18.9% falling
77 Bolivia 134,400 2024 down 39.2% falling
78 United Kingdom 124,400 2024 up 7.9% flat
79 Kazakhstan 93,700 2024 down 49.3% falling
80 Lesotho 92,100 2024 down 7.8% falling
81 Jordan 88,400 2024 up 2.6% rising
82 Germany 85,200 2024 up 49.7% rising
83 Guinea-Bissau 85,000 2024 up 8.8% rising
84 Kyrgyzstan 84,800 2024 down 21.2% falling
85 Tunisia 76,900 2024 down 16.0% falling
86 East Timor 69,100 2024 down 13.0% falling
87 Namibia 66,600 2024 down 7.5% falling
88 Romania 64,900 2024 down 22.4% falling
89 Botswana 62,400 2024 down 0.8% falling
90 Libya 57,800 2024 down 64.7% falling
91 Palestine 57,200 2024 down 10.8% falling
92 Dominican Republic 55,900 2024 down 30.4% falling
93 Oman 55,100 2024 up 32.1% rising
94 Gambia 54,300 2024 down 29.8% falling
95 Turkmenistan 51,200 2024 down 35.6% falling
96 Panama 49,800 2024 down 31.4% falling
97 Australia 47,600 2024 down 11.4% rising
98 El Salvador 46,400 2024 down 41.8% falling
99 Gabon 45,700 2024 down 1.1% falling
99 Lebanon 45,700 2024 down 20.9% falling
101 Azerbaijan 44,700 2024 down 63.4% falling
102 Equatorial Guinea 43,800 2024 down 12.0% falling
103 Cuba 35,700 2024 down 21.7% falling
104 Solomon Islands 31,200 2024 up 7.2% rising
105 Costa Rica 28,800 2024 up 14.3% rising
106 Eswatini 26,700 2024 down 29.7% falling
107 Mongolia 24,100 2024 down 35.9% falling
108 Djibouti 24,000 2024 down 21.6% falling
109 South Korea 23,500 2024 down 44.0% falling
110 Paraguay 21,600 2024 down 56.1% volatile
111 Comoros 20,000 2024 down 34.0% falling
112 Poland 17,200 2024 down 47.4% falling
113 Bulgaria 17,000 2024 down 26.7% falling
114 Chile 16,000 2024 down 26.6% falling
115 Belgium 14,800 2024 down 14.9% falling
116 Netherlands 14,600 2024 up 9.0% flat
117 Serbia 14,100 2024 down 26.2% falling
118 Vanuatu 13,700 2024 up 25.7% rising
119 Portugal 13,400 2024 down 19.3% falling
120 Czechia 12,400 2024 down 7.5% flat
121 Kuwait 11,800 2024 down 23.9% rising
122 Jamaica 11,200 2024 down 10.4% falling
123 Uruguay 11,100 2024 down 43.4% falling
124 Georgia 11,000 2024 down 50.2% falling
125 Armenia 10,900 2024 down 58.9% falling
126 Albania 10,500 2024 down 59.3% volatile
127 Bosnia and Herzegovina 10,000 2024 down 27.5% falling
128 Bhutan 8,700 2024 down 47.3% falling
129 Qatar 8,500 2024 up 13.3% rising
130 Greece 7,400 2024 down 20.4% falling
131 Moldova 7,100 2024 down 48.6% falling
132 Singapore 6,500 2024 down 7.1% falling
133 Trinidad and Tobago 6,400 2024 down 21.0% rising
135 Fiji 5,900 2024 down 9.2% falling
136 Guyana 5,800 2024 down 44.2% falling
137 Mauritius 4,700 2024 down 19.0% falling
138 Bahrain 4,400 2024 down 26.7% falling
139 Belarus 4,300 2024 down 62.9% falling
140 Maldives 4,200 2024 down 27.6% falling
140 Suriname 4,200 2024 down 8.7% falling
142 Belize 4,100 2024 down 30.5% falling
143 Finland 4,000 2024 down 16.7% falling
144 North Macedonia 3,400 2024 down 44.3% falling
145 Brunei 3,100 2024 down 40.4% falling
145 Sao Tome and Principe 3,100 2024 down 38.0% falling
147 Montenegro 2,900 2024 down 12.1% falling
148 Kiribati 2,400 2024 down 4.0% falling
149 Samoa 2,300 2024 up 43.8% rising
150 Cape Verde 1,900 2024 down 47.2% falling
150 Lithuania 1,900 2024 down 29.6% falling
152 Latvia 1,400 2024 down 30.0% falling
153 Marshall Islands 1,200 2024 down 47.8% falling
154 Barbados 900 2024 down 25.0% falling
155 Estonia 800 2024 down 11.1% falling
157 Seychelles 600 2024 unchanged falling
158 Saint Lucia 300 2024 unchanged falling
159 Nauru 200 2024 down 33.3% falling
159 Tonga 200 2024 down 75.0% volatile
161 Turks and Caicos Islands 100 2024 unchanged flat
161 Tuvalu 100 2024 unchanged falling

About this data

Indicator
Malnutrition: Number of children who are stunted
Source
World Health Organization - Global Health Observatory (2026) – with minor processing by Our World in Data
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage
162 places, 4,050 data points, 2000–2024
Last refreshed

The number of children younger than five who are stunted – significantly shorter than the average for their age, as a consequence of poor nutrition or repeated infection.