Malnutrition: Share of children who are underweight in Bangladesh
Bangladesh: Malnutrition: Share of children who are underweight was 21.7% in 2022. ▼ Falling
Malnutrition: Share of children who are underweight in Bangladesh, 1986–2022
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
In 2022, malnutrition: share of children who are underweight in Bangladesh stood at 21.7%. That is the lowest value across all 27 years on record.
The figure is down 4.0% on the previous year and down 34.2% over ten years.
Over the whole period, malnutrition: share of children who are underweight in Bangladesh peaked at 66.8% in 1986 and was at its lowest, 21.7%, in 2022.
Bangladesh ranks 12th of 96 countries on this measure, in the top quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 27 years of available data.
Malnutrition: Share of children who are underweight in Bangladesh, year by year
| Year | % of children under 5 | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1986 | 66.8% | — |
| 1990 | 61.5% | -7.9% |
| 1991 | 61.2% | -0.5% |
| 1992 | 60.6% | -1.0% |
| 1993 | 56.1% | -7.4% |
| 1994 | 58.0% | +3.4% |
| 1995 | 55.2% | -4.8% |
| 1996 | 54.0% | -2.2% |
| 1997 | 53.6% | -0.7% |
| 1998 | 50.7% | -5.4% |
| 1999 | 49.5% | -2.4% |
| 2000 | 42.4% | -14.3% |
| 2001 | 43.2% | +1.9% |
| 2002 | 41.0% | -5.1% |
| 2003 | 38.9% | -5.1% |
| 2004 | 42.8% | +10.0% |
| 2005 | 39.7% | -7.2% |
| 2006 | 37.9% | -4.5% |
| 2007 | 41.3% | +9.0% |
| 2011 | 36.7% | -11.1% |
| 2012 | 33.0% | -10.1% |
| 2013 | 31.9% | -3.3% |
| 2014 | 32.8% | +2.8% |
| 2015 | 31.0% | -5.5% |
| 2018 | 21.9% | -29.4% |
| 2019 | 22.6% | +3.2% |
| 2022 | 21.7% | -4.0% |
Bangladesh compared with similar countries
- Bangladesh's 21.7% is above the median for lower middle income countries, which is 11.6%, 1.9× the median. (38 countries reporting)
- Bangladesh's 21.7% is above the median for South Asia, which is 17.7%, 1.2× the median. (6 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1980s | 66.8% | 66.8% | 66.8% | 1 |
| 1990s | 56.0% | 49.5% | 61.5% | 10 |
| 2000s | 40.9% | 37.9% | 43.2% | 8 |
| 2010s | 30.0% | 21.9% | 36.7% | 7 |
| 2020s | 21.7% | 21.7% | 21.7% | 1 |
Countries ranked near Bangladesh
More reference data data for Bangladesh
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Manure applied to Soils 2.46 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Manure left on Pasture 9.09 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - IPCC Agriculture 24.63 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Crop Residues 2.62 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Agricultural Soils 24.63 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure applied to Soils 8.25 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure Management 2.5 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure left on Pasture 37.85 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - IPCC Agriculture 105.98 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Crop Residues 14.25 (2050)
Frequently asked questions
- What is malnutrition: share of children who are underweight in Bangladesh?
- Malnutrition: share of children who are underweight in Bangladesh was 21.7% 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 Bangladesh?
- The highest recorded value was 66.8% in 1986.
- What is the lowest malnutrition: share of children who are underweight recorded in Bangladesh?
- The lowest recorded value was 21.7% in 2022.
- How does Bangladesh rank for malnutrition: share of children who are underweight?
- Bangladesh ranks 12th out of 96 countries with data for 2022.
- Is malnutrition: share of children who are underweight rising or falling in Bangladesh?
- Over the last ten years it is down 34.2%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Bangladesh 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 — 27 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.