Share of the population undernourished vs. share of children who are stunted in Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka: Share of the population undernourished vs. share of children who are stunted was 10.1 percent in 2024. ▼ Falling
Share of the population undernourished vs. share of children who are stunted in Sri Lanka, 2000–2024
Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in percent.
Analysis
Sri Lanka recorded 10.1 percent for share of the population undernourished vs. share of children who are stunted in 2024. That is the lowest value across all 25 years on record.
That represents a change of down 1.0% on the previous year and down 30.8% over ten years.
Over the whole period, share of the population undernourished vs. share of children who are stunted in Sri Lanka peaked at 19.8 percent in 2000 and was at its lowest, 10.1 percent, in 2024.
Sri Lanka ranks 91st of 160 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.
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 Sri Lanka, year by year
| Year | percent | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 19.8 percent | — |
| 2001 | 19.7 percent | -0.5% |
| 2002 | 19.6 percent | -0.5% |
| 2003 | 19.5 percent | -0.5% |
| 2004 | 19.4 percent | -0.5% |
| 2005 | 19.2 percent | -1.0% |
| 2006 | 19 percent | -1.0% |
| 2007 | 18.6 percent | -2.1% |
| 2008 | 18.2 percent | -2.2% |
| 2009 | 17.7 percent | -2.7% |
| 2010 | 17.2 percent | -2.8% |
| 2011 | 16.6 percent | -3.5% |
| 2012 | 15.9 percent | -4.2% |
| 2013 | 15.3 percent | -3.8% |
| 2014 | 14.6 percent | -4.6% |
| 2015 | 14 percent | -4.1% |
| 2016 | 13.3 percent | -5.0% |
| 2017 | 12.7 percent | -4.5% |
| 2018 | 12.1 percent | -4.7% |
| 2019 | 11.6 percent | -4.1% |
| 2020 | 11.1 percent | -4.3% |
| 2021 | 10.8 percent | -2.7% |
| 2022 | 10.5 percent | -2.8% |
| 2023 | 10.2 percent | -2.9% |
| 2024 | 10.1 percent | -1.0% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 19.07 percent | 17.7 percent | 19.8 percent | 10 |
| 2010s | 14.33 percent | 11.6 percent | 17.2 percent | 10 |
| 2020s | 10.54 percent | 10.1 percent | 11.1 percent | 5 |
Countries ranked near Sri Lanka
- 89 Costa Rica 10.6 percent compare
- 89 Peru 10.6 percent compare
- 91 Lebanon 10.1 percent compare
- 93 Sao Tome and Principe 10 percent compare
- 94 Brunei Darussalam 9.9 percent compare
More reference data data for Sri Lanka
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Manure applied to Soils 0.1608 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Manure left on Pasture 0.316 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - IPCC Agriculture 2.33 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Crop Residues 0.1784 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Agricultural Soils 2.33 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure applied to Soils 0.539 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure Management 0.1604 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure left on Pasture 1.63 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - IPCC Agriculture 10.15 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Crop Residues 0.9713 (2050)
Frequently asked questions
- What is share of the population undernourished vs. share of children who are stunted in Sri Lanka?
- Share of the population undernourished vs. share of children who are stunted in Sri Lanka was 10.1 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 Sri Lanka?
- The highest recorded value was 19.8 percent in 2000.
- What is the lowest share of the population undernourished vs. share of children who are stunted recorded in Sri Lanka?
- The lowest recorded value was 10.1 percent in 2024.
- How does Sri Lanka rank for share of the population undernourished vs. share of children who are stunted?
- Sri Lanka ranks 91st 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 Sri Lanka?
- Over the last ten years it is down 30.8%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Sri Lanka 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.