Malnutrition: Number of children who are stunted in Democratic Republic of Congo
Democratic Republic of Congo: Malnutrition: Number of children who are stunted was 8.72 million in 2024. ▲ Rising
Malnutrition: Number of children who are stunted in Democratic Republic of Congo, 2000–2024
Source: World Health Organization – Global Health Observatory (2026) – with minor processing by Our World in Data.
Analysis
Democratic Republic of Congo recorded 8.72 million for malnutrition: number of children who are stunted in 2024. That is the highest value across all 25 years on record.
That represents a change of up 3.6% on the previous year and up 40.8% over ten years.
Over the whole period, malnutrition: number of children who are stunted in Democratic Republic of Congo peaked at 8.72 million in 2024 and was at its lowest, 4.34 million, in 2000.
That places Democratic Republic of Congo 4th out of 162 countries with data for 2024, putting it in the top 10%.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 25 years of available data.
Malnutrition: Number of children who are stunted in Democratic Republic of Congo, year by year
| Year | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 4.34 million | — |
| 2001 | 4.45 million | +2.6% |
| 2002 | 4.58 million | +2.8% |
| 2003 | 4.70 million | +2.8% |
| 2004 | 4.82 million | +2.5% |
| 2005 | 4.93 million | +2.3% |
| 2006 | 5.04 million | +2.3% |
| 2007 | 5.15 million | +2.1% |
| 2008 | 5.26 million | +2.1% |
| 2009 | 5.38 million | +2.4% |
| 2010 | 5.52 million | +2.5% |
| 2011 | 5.67 million | +2.6% |
| 2012 | 5.82 million | +2.8% |
| 2013 | 6.00 million | +3.1% |
| 2014 | 6.20 million | +3.2% |
| 2015 | 6.39 million | +3.2% |
| 2016 | 6.60 million | +3.3% |
| 2017 | 6.83 million | +3.4% |
| 2018 | 7.05 million | +3.2% |
| 2019 | 7.26 million | +3.0% |
| 2020 | 7.51 million | +3.4% |
| 2021 | 7.79 million | +3.8% |
| 2022 | 8.13 million | +4.3% |
| 2023 | 8.42 million | +3.7% |
| 2024 | 8.72 million | +3.6% |
Democratic Republic of Congo compared with similar countries
- Democratic Republic of Congo's 8.72 million is above the median for low income countries, which is 986,900, 8.8× the median. (25 countries reporting)
- Democratic Republic of Congo's 8.72 million is above the median for Sub-Saharan Africa, which is 577,800, 15.1× the median. (48 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 4.87 million | 4.34 million | 5.38 million | 10 |
| 2010s | 6.33 million | 5.52 million | 7.26 million | 10 |
| 2020s | 8.11 million | 7.51 million | 8.72 million | 5 |
Countries ranked near Democratic Republic of Congo
More reference data data for Democratic Republic of Congo
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure applied to Soils 1.18 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (CO2eq) from CH4 (AR5) - Manure Management 220.65 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (CO2eq) from CH4 (AR5) - IPCC Agriculture 3,924 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (CO2eq) from N2O (AR5) - IPCC Agriculture 3,062 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Agricultural Soils 9.9 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (CO2eq) (AR5) - Manure left on Pasture 1,764 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (CO2eq) (AR5) - Manure applied to Soils 313.43 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Burning - Crop residues 0.2179 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (CO2eq) from N2O (AR5) - Manure applied 313.43 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (CO2eq) from CH4 (AR5) - Enteric 3,057 (2050)
Frequently asked questions
- What is malnutrition: number of children who are stunted in Democratic Republic of Congo?
- Malnutrition: number of children who are stunted in Democratic Republic of Congo was 8.72 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 Democratic Republic of Congo?
- The highest recorded value was 8.72 million in 2024.
- What is the lowest malnutrition: number of children who are stunted recorded in Democratic Republic of Congo?
- The lowest recorded value was 4.34 million in 2000.
- How does Democratic Republic of Congo rank for malnutrition: number of children who are stunted?
- Democratic Republic of Congo ranks 4th out of 162 countries with data for 2024.
- Is malnutrition: number of children who are stunted rising or falling in Democratic Republic of Congo?
- Over the last ten years it is up 40.8%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Democratic Republic of Congo 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
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.