Malnutrition: Share of children who are underweight in Afghanistan
Afghanistan: Malnutrition: Share of children who are underweight was 18.4% in 2022. ▼ Falling
Malnutrition: Share of children who are underweight in Afghanistan, 1997–2022
Source: Joint child Malnutrition Estimates (JME) - UNICEF, WHO, and World Bank (2026) – processed by Our World in Data. Measured in % of children under 5.
Analysis
Afghanistan recorded 18.4% for malnutrition: share of children who are underweight in 2022. That is the lowest value across all 5 years on record.
Compared with earlier readings it is down 25.2% over ten years.
Over the whole period, malnutrition: share of children who are underweight in Afghanistan peaked at 44.9% in 1997 and was at its lowest, 18.4%, in 2022.
That places Afghanistan 17th out of 96 countries with data for 2022, putting it in the top quarter.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 44.9% | 44.9% | 44.9% | 1 |
| 2000s | 31.7% | 31.7% | 31.7% | 1 |
| 2010s | 21.9% | 19.1% | 24.6% | 2 |
| 2020s | 18.4% | 18.4% | 18.4% | 1 |
Countries ranked near Afghanistan
More reference data data for Afghanistan
- Spring temperature anomalies 3.05 °C (2026)
- Temperature anomalies by month -0.1923 °C (2026)
- Summer temperature anomalies 0.6919 °C (2026)
- Elected parliament 0 (2025)
- Universal right to vote in practice 0 (2025)
- Free country 0 (2025)
- Civil liberties rating 7 (2025)
- Universal right to vote 2 (2025)
- Autumn temperature anomalies 1.44 °C (2025)
- Democracy 0 (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is malnutrition: share of children who are underweight in Afghanistan?
- Malnutrition: share of children who are underweight in Afghanistan was 18.4% in 2022, according to Joint child Malnutrition Estimates (JME) - UNICEF, WHO, and World Bank (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest malnutrition: share of children who are underweight recorded in Afghanistan?
- The highest recorded value was 44.9% in 1997.
- What is the lowest malnutrition: share of children who are underweight recorded in Afghanistan?
- The lowest recorded value was 18.4% in 2022.
- How does Afghanistan rank for malnutrition: share of children who are underweight?
- Afghanistan ranks 17th out of 96 countries with data for 2022.
- Is malnutrition: share of children who are underweight rising or falling in Afghanistan?
- Over the last ten years it is down 25.2%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Afghanistan data come from?
- The figures come from Joint child Malnutrition Estimates (JME) - UNICEF, WHO, and World Bank (2026) – processed by Our World in Data, published as part of Malnutrition: Share of children who are underweight. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 5 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
The share of children younger than five years old whose weight for age is more than two standard deviations below the median for the international reference population for ages 0-59 months.