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

Latest (2024)
8.72 million
Change on year
up 3.6%
World rank
4th
of 162 countries
All-time high
8.72 million
in 2024
All-time low
4.34 million
in 2000
Years of data
25
2000–2024

Malnutrition: Number of children who are stunted in Democratic Republic of Congo, 2000–2024

02.0M4.0M6.0M8.0M2000201220242000: 4.3M2001: 4.4M2002: 4.6M2003: 4.7M2004: 4.8M2005: 4.9M2006: 5.0M2007: 5.1M2008: 5.3M2009: 5.4M2010: 5.5M2011: 5.7M2012: 5.8M2013: 6.0M2014: 6.2M2015: 6.4M2016: 6.6M2017: 6.8M2018: 7.0M2019: 7.3M2020: 7.5M2021: 7.8M2022: 8.1M2023: 8.4M2024: 8.7M

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.

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest 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

  1. 1 India 37.40 million compare
  2. 2 Nigeria 11.44 million compare
  3. 3 Pakistan 10.74 million compare
  4. 5 Ethiopia 6.89 million compare
  5. 6 Indonesia 5.03 million compare
  6. 7 Bangladesh 4.19 million compare

See the full ranking of 162 places →

More reference data data for Democratic Republic of Congo

All data for Democratic Republic of Congo →

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

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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.