Share of the population undernourished vs. share of children who are stunted in Malawi
Malawi: Share of the population undernourished vs. share of children who are stunted was 33.2 percent in 2024. ▼ Falling
Share of the population undernourished vs. share of children who are stunted in Malawi, 2000–2024
Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in percent.
Analysis
The most recent figure for share of the population undernourished vs. share of children who are stunted in Malawi is 33.2 percent, measured in 2024. That is the lowest value across all 25 years on record.
The figure is down 18.0% over ten years.
Over the whole period, share of the population undernourished vs. share of children who are stunted in Malawi peaked at 56.1 percent in 2000 and was at its lowest, 33.2 percent, in 2023.
That places Malawi 19th out of 160 countries with data for 2024, putting it in the top quarter.
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 Malawi, year by year
| Year | percent | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 56.1 percent | — |
| 2001 | 55.9 percent | -0.4% |
| 2002 | 55.5 percent | -0.7% |
| 2003 | 55 percent | -0.9% |
| 2004 | 54.4 percent | -1.1% |
| 2005 | 53.6 percent | -1.5% |
| 2006 | 52.7 percent | -1.7% |
| 2007 | 51.5 percent | -2.3% |
| 2008 | 50.1 percent | -2.7% |
| 2009 | 48.5 percent | -3.2% |
| 2010 | 46.8 percent | -3.5% |
| 2011 | 45.1 percent | -3.6% |
| 2012 | 43.5 percent | -3.5% |
| 2013 | 41.9 percent | -3.7% |
| 2014 | 40.5 percent | -3.3% |
| 2015 | 39.2 percent | -3.2% |
| 2016 | 37.9 percent | -3.3% |
| 2017 | 36.8 percent | -2.9% |
| 2018 | 35.8 percent | -2.7% |
| 2019 | 34.9 percent | -2.5% |
| 2020 | 34.1 percent | -2.3% |
| 2021 | 33.6 percent | -1.5% |
| 2022 | 33.3 percent | -0.9% |
| 2023 | 33.2 percent | -0.3% |
| 2024 | 33.2 percent | +0.0% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 53.33 percent | 48.5 percent | 56.1 percent | 10 |
| 2010s | 40.24 percent | 34.9 percent | 46.8 percent | 10 |
| 2020s | 33.48 percent | 33.2 percent | 34.1 percent | 5 |
Countries ranked near Malawi
More reference data data for Malawi
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Manure applied to Soils 0.1596 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Manure left on Pasture 1.09 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - IPCC Agriculture 3.71 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Crop Residues 0.3426 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Agricultural Soils 3.71 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure applied to Soils 0.5353 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure Management 0.6012 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure left on Pasture 4.92 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - IPCC Agriculture 16.7 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Crop Residues 1.87 (2050)
Frequently asked questions
- What is share of the population undernourished vs. share of children who are stunted in Malawi?
- Share of the population undernourished vs. share of children who are stunted in Malawi was 33.2 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 Malawi?
- The highest recorded value was 56.1 percent in 2000.
- What is the lowest share of the population undernourished vs. share of children who are stunted recorded in Malawi?
- The lowest recorded value was 33.2 percent in 2023.
- How does Malawi rank for share of the population undernourished vs. share of children who are stunted?
- Malawi ranks 19th 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 Malawi?
- Over the last ten years it is down 18.0%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Malawi 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.