Malnutrition: Number of children who are stunted in Bangladesh

Bangladesh: Malnutrition: Number of children who are stunted was 4.19 million in 2024. ▼ Falling

Latest (2024)
4.19 million
Change on year
down 0.5%
World rank
7th
of 162 countries
All-time high
9.74 million
in 2000
All-time low
4.19 million
in 2024
Years of data
25
2000–2024

Malnutrition: Number of children who are stunted in Bangladesh, 2000–2024

02.0M4.0M6.0M8.0M10.0M2000201220242000: 9.7M2001: 9.7M2002: 9.6M2003: 9.4M2004: 9.2M2005: 8.9M2006: 8.6M2007: 8.2M2008: 7.8M2009: 7.4M2010: 7.0M2011: 6.5M2012: 6.2M2013: 5.8M2014: 5.5M2015: 5.3M2016: 5.1M2017: 4.8M2018: 4.7M2019: 4.5M2020: 4.3M2021: 4.2M2022: 4.2M2023: 4.2M2024: 4.2M

Source: World Health Organization - Global Health Observatory (2026) – with minor processing by Our World in Data.

Analysis

The most recent figure for malnutrition: number of children who are stunted in Bangladesh is 4.19 million, measured in 2024. That is the lowest value across all 25 years on record.

The figure is down 0.5% on the previous year and down 24.3% over ten years.

Over the whole period, malnutrition: number of children who are stunted in Bangladesh peaked at 9.74 million in 2000 and was at its lowest, 4.19 million, in 2024.

That places Bangladesh 7th out of 162 countries with data for 2024, putting it in the top 10%.

The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 25 years of available data.

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
2000s 8.84 million 7.37 million 9.74 million 10
2010s 5.53 million 4.48 million 6.96 million 10
2020s 4.24 million 4.19 million 4.34 million 5

Countries ranked near Bangladesh

  1. 4 Democratic Republic of Congo 8.72 million compare
  2. 5 Ethiopia 6.89 million compare
  3. 6 Indonesia 5.03 million compare
  4. 8 Tanzania 3.30 million compare
  5. 9 Yemen 3.05 million compare
  6. 10 Angola 3.03 million compare

See the full ranking of 162 places →

More reference data data for Bangladesh

All data for Bangladesh →

Frequently asked questions

What is malnutrition: number of children who are stunted in Bangladesh?
Malnutrition: number of children who are stunted in Bangladesh was 4.19 million in 2024, according to World Health Organization - Global Health Observatory (2026) – with minor processing by Our World in Data.
What is the highest malnutrition: number of children who are stunted recorded in Bangladesh?
The highest recorded value was 9.74 million in 2000.
What is the lowest malnutrition: number of children who are stunted recorded in Bangladesh?
The lowest recorded value was 4.19 million in 2024.
How does Bangladesh rank for malnutrition: number of children who are stunted?
Bangladesh ranks 7th out of 162 countries with data for 2024.
Is malnutrition: number of children who are stunted rising or falling in Bangladesh?
Over the last ten years it is down 24.3%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
Where does this Bangladesh data come from?
The figures come from World Health Organization - Global Health Observatory (2026) – with minor processing by Our World in Data, published as part of Malnutrition: Number of children who are stunted. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

Download this data

CSV · JSON — 25 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).

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.