Malnutrition: Number of children who are stunted in Zambia
Zambia: Malnutrition: Number of children who are stunted was 1.04 million in 2024. ▼ Falling
Malnutrition: Number of children who are stunted in Zambia, 2000–2024
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 Zambia stood at 1.04 million.
That represents a change of up 2.6% on the previous year and down 3.2% over ten years.
Over the whole period, malnutrition: number of children who are stunted in Zambia peaked at 1.12 million in 2009 and was at its lowest, 960,700, in 2020.
Zambia ranks 30th of 162 countries on this measure, in the top quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 25 years of available data.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 1.07 million | 989,000 | 1.12 million | 10 |
| 2010s | 1.05 million | 971,800 | 1.11 million | 10 |
| 2020s | 990,980 | 960,700 | 1.04 million | 5 |
Countries ranked near Zambia
More reference data data for Zambia
- Spring temperature anomalies -0.0386 °C (2026)
- Summer temperature anomalies -0.018 °C (2026)
- Temperature anomalies by month 0.3261 °C (2026)
- Universal right to vote in practice 2 (2025)
- Autumn temperature anomalies 0.5273 °C (2025)
- Winter temperature anomalies -0.2981 °C (2025)
- Consumer price index 483.32 2010 = 100 (2025)
- Universal right to vote 2 (2025)
- Competitive elections 1 (2025)
- Men's universal right to vote 1 (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is malnutrition: number of children who are stunted in Zambia?
- Malnutrition: number of children who are stunted in Zambia was 1.04 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 Zambia?
- The highest recorded value was 1.12 million in 2009.
- What is the lowest malnutrition: number of children who are stunted recorded in Zambia?
- The lowest recorded value was 960,700 in 2020.
- How does Zambia rank for malnutrition: number of children who are stunted?
- Zambia ranks 30th out of 162 countries with data for 2024.
- Is malnutrition: number of children who are stunted rising or falling in Zambia?
- Over the last ten years it is down 3.2%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Zambia 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.