Share of the population undernourished vs. share of children who are stunted in Afghanistan
Afghanistan: Share of the population undernourished vs. share of children who are stunted was 42 percent in 2024. ▼ Falling
Share of the population undernourished vs. share of children who are stunted in Afghanistan, 2000–2024
Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in percent.
Analysis
In 2024, share of the population undernourished vs. share of children who are stunted in Afghanistan stood at 42 percent.
The figure is up 1.0% on the previous year and down 1.2% over ten years.
Over the whole period, share of the population undernourished vs. share of children who are stunted in Afghanistan peaked at 55.5 percent in 2000 and was at its lowest, 40.7 percent, in 2020.
That places Afghanistan 10th out of 160 countries with data for 2024, putting it in the top 10%.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 25 years of available data.
Share of the population undernourished vs. share of children who are stunted in Afghanistan, year by year
| Year | percent | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 55.5 percent | — |
| 2001 | 55.2 percent | -0.5% |
| 2002 | 54.4 percent | -1.4% |
| 2003 | 53.4 percent | -1.8% |
| 2004 | 52.4 percent | -1.9% |
| 2005 | 51.3 percent | -2.1% |
| 2006 | 50.3 percent | -1.9% |
| 2007 | 49 percent | -2.6% |
| 2008 | 47.8 percent | -2.4% |
| 2009 | 46.5 percent | -2.7% |
| 2010 | 45.3 percent | -2.6% |
| 2011 | 44.3 percent | -2.2% |
| 2012 | 43.5 percent | -1.8% |
| 2013 | 42.9 percent | -1.4% |
| 2014 | 42.5 percent | -0.9% |
| 2015 | 42.2 percent | -0.7% |
| 2016 | 41.9 percent | -0.7% |
| 2017 | 41.5 percent | -1.0% |
| 2018 | 41.2 percent | -0.7% |
| 2019 | 40.9 percent | -0.7% |
| 2020 | 40.7 percent | -0.5% |
| 2021 | 40.8 percent | +0.2% |
| 2022 | 41.1 percent | +0.7% |
| 2023 | 41.6 percent | +1.2% |
| 2024 | 42 percent | +1.0% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 51.58 percent | 46.5 percent | 55.5 percent | 10 |
| 2010s | 42.62 percent | 40.9 percent | 45.3 percent | 10 |
| 2020s | 41.24 percent | 40.7 percent | 42 percent | 5 |
Countries ranked near Afghanistan
- 7 Timor-Leste 45.4 percent compare
- 8 Guatemala 44.6 percent compare
- 9 Congo, Democratic Republic of the 44.1 percent compare
- 11 Central African Republic 38.9 percent compare
- 12 Madagascar 38.4 percent compare
- 13 Mozambique 37 percent compare
More reference data data for Afghanistan
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Manure applied to Soils 0.8991 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Manure left on Pasture 4.89 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - IPCC Agriculture 6.63 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Crop Residues 0.4362 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Agricultural Soils 6.63 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure applied to Soils 3.01 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure Management 0.847 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure left on Pasture 18.65 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - IPCC Agriculture 26.62 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Crop Residues 2.38 (2050)
Frequently asked questions
- What is share of the population undernourished vs. share of children who are stunted in Afghanistan?
- Share of the population undernourished vs. share of children who are stunted in Afghanistan was 42 percent in 2024, according to Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest share of the population undernourished vs. share of children who are stunted recorded in Afghanistan?
- The highest recorded value was 55.5 percent in 2000.
- What is the lowest share of the population undernourished vs. share of children who are stunted recorded in Afghanistan?
- The lowest recorded value was 40.7 percent in 2020.
- How does Afghanistan rank for share of the population undernourished vs. share of children who are stunted?
- Afghanistan ranks 10th out of 160 countries with data for 2024.
- Is share of the population undernourished vs. share of children who are stunted rising or falling in Afghanistan?
- Over the last ten years it is down 1.2%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Afghanistan data come from?
- The figures come from Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data, published as part of Share of the population undernourished vs. share 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
Childhood stunting is the share of children younger than five years that are stunted, which means they are two standard deviations below the median height-for-age of the WHO's Child Growth Standards. Undernourishment is when a person's daily food intake does not provide enough energy to maintain a normal, active, and healthy life.