Malnutrition: Number of children who are stunted in Ethiopia

Ethiopia: Malnutrition: Number of children who are stunted was 6.89 million in 2024. ▼ Falling

Latest (2024)
6.89 million
Change on year
up 1.6%
World rank
5th
of 162 countries
All-time high
7.51 million
in 2003
All-time low
6.21 million
in 2017
Years of data
25
2000–2024

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

02.0M4.0M6.0M8.0M2000201220242000: 7.5M2001: 7.5M2002: 7.5M2003: 7.5M2004: 7.5M2005: 7.5M2006: 7.4M2007: 7.3M2008: 7.2M2009: 7.0M2010: 6.9M2011: 6.7M2012: 6.5M2013: 6.4M2014: 6.3M2015: 6.3M2016: 6.2M2017: 6.2M2018: 6.2M2019: 6.3M2020: 6.4M2021: 6.5M2022: 6.6M2023: 6.8M2024: 6.9M

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

Analysis

In 2024, malnutrition: number of children who are stunted in Ethiopia stood at 6.89 million.

That represents a change of up 1.6% on the previous year and up 9.1% over ten years.

Over the whole period, malnutrition: number of children who are stunted in Ethiopia peaked at 7.51 million in 2003 and was at its lowest, 6.21 million, in 2017.

Ethiopia ranks 5th of 162 countries on this measure, 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 7.39 million 7.04 million 7.51 million 10
2010s 6.40 million 6.21 million 6.86 million 10
2020s 6.64 million 6.37 million 6.89 million 5

Countries ranked near Ethiopia

  1. 2 Nigeria 11.44 million compare
  2. 3 Pakistan 10.74 million compare
  3. 4 Democratic Republic of Congo 8.72 million compare
  4. 6 Indonesia 5.03 million compare
  5. 7 Bangladesh 4.19 million compare
  6. 8 Tanzania 3.30 million compare

See the full ranking of 162 places →

More reference data data for Ethiopia

All data for Ethiopia →

Frequently asked questions

What is malnutrition: number of children who are stunted in Ethiopia?
Malnutrition: number of children who are stunted in Ethiopia was 6.89 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 Ethiopia?
The highest recorded value was 7.51 million in 2003.
What is the lowest malnutrition: number of children who are stunted recorded in Ethiopia?
The lowest recorded value was 6.21 million in 2017.
How does Ethiopia rank for malnutrition: number of children who are stunted?
Ethiopia ranks 5th out of 162 countries with data for 2024.
Is malnutrition: number of children who are stunted rising or falling in Ethiopia?
Over the last ten years it is up 9.1%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
Where does this Ethiopia 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.