Malnutrition: Number of children who are stunted in Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka: Malnutrition: Number of children who are stunted was 163,600 in 2024. ▼ Falling

Latest (2024)
163,600
Change on year
down 2.2%
World rank
74th
of 162 countries
All-time high
346,000
in 2004
All-time low
163,600
in 2024
Years of data
25
2000–2024

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

0100.0k200.0k300.0k2000201220242000: 340.7k2001: 341.7k2002: 344.3k2003: 345.7k2004: 346.0k2005: 345.9k2006: 343.2k2007: 338.5k2008: 331.8k2009: 323.7k2010: 313.8k2011: 302.2k2012: 288.3k2013: 275.4k2014: 262.1k2015: 248.4k2016: 234.8k2017: 221.7k2018: 208.5k2019: 196.4k2020: 186.5k2021: 178.7k2022: 173.0k2023: 167.2k2024: 163.6k

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

Analysis

Sri Lanka recorded 163,600 for malnutrition: number of children who are stunted in 2024. That is the lowest value across all 25 years on record.

That represents a change of down 2.2% on the previous year and down 37.6% over ten years.

Over the whole period, malnutrition: number of children who are stunted in Sri Lanka peaked at 346,000 in 2004 and was at its lowest, 163,600, in 2024.

That places Sri Lanka 74th out of 162 countries with data for 2024, putting it in the middle of the range.

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

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
2000s 340,150 323,700 346,000 10
2010s 255,160 196,400 313,800 10
2020s 173,800 163,600 186,500 5

Countries ranked near Sri Lanka

  1. 71 Honduras 204,400 compare
  2. 72 Mauritania 175,000 compare
  3. 73 Tajikistan 174,400 compare
  4. 75 Ukraine 147,100 compare
  5. 76 Congo 146,000 compare
  6. 77 Bolivia 134,400 compare

See the full ranking of 162 places →

More reference data data for Sri Lanka

All data for Sri Lanka →

Frequently asked questions

What is malnutrition: number of children who are stunted in Sri Lanka?
Malnutrition: number of children who are stunted in Sri Lanka was 163,600 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 Sri Lanka?
The highest recorded value was 346,000 in 2004.
What is the lowest malnutrition: number of children who are stunted recorded in Sri Lanka?
The lowest recorded value was 163,600 in 2024.
How does Sri Lanka rank for malnutrition: number of children who are stunted?
Sri Lanka ranks 74th out of 162 countries with data for 2024.
Is malnutrition: number of children who are stunted rising or falling in Sri Lanka?
Over the last ten years it is down 37.6%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
Where does this Sri Lanka 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.