Malnutrition: Share of children who are underweight in Burundi
Burundi: Malnutrition: Share of children who are underweight was 28.3% in 2024. ▼ Falling
Malnutrition: Share of children who are underweight in Burundi, 1987–2024
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 2024, malnutrition: share of children who are underweight in Burundi stood at 28.3%.
Compared with earlier readings it is up 1.1% on the previous year and up 1.4% over ten years.
Over the whole period, malnutrition: share of children who are underweight in Burundi peaked at 39.1% in 2000 and was at its lowest, 27.0%, in 2019.
That places Burundi 5th out of 96 countries with data for 2024, putting it in the top 10%.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 12 years of available data.
Malnutrition: Share of children who are underweight in Burundi, year by year
| Year | % of children under 5 | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1987 | 30.4% | — |
| 2000 | 39.1% | +28.6% |
| 2005 | 35.2% | -10.0% |
| 2010 | 29.1% | -17.3% |
| 2012 | 27.9% | -4.1% |
| 2016 | 29.3% | +5.0% |
| 2018 | 29.6% | +1.0% |
| 2019 | 27.0% | -8.8% |
| 2020 | 27.7% | +2.6% |
| 2022 | 27.6% | -0.4% |
| 2023 | 28.0% | +1.4% |
| 2024 | 28.3% | +1.1% |
Burundi compared with similar countries
- Burundi's 28.3% is above the median for low income countries, which is 16.9%, 1.7× the median. (21 countries reporting)
- Burundi's 28.3% is above the median for Sub-Saharan Africa, which is 14.3%, 2.0× the median. (34 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1980s | 30.4% | 30.4% | 30.4% | 1 |
| 2000s | 37.2% | 35.2% | 39.1% | 2 |
| 2010s | 28.6% | 27.0% | 29.6% | 5 |
| 2020s | 27.9% | 27.6% | 28.3% | 4 |
Countries ranked near Burundi
More reference data data for Burundi
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Manure applied to Soils 0.0676 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Manure left on Pasture 0.5075 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - IPCC Agriculture 0.6676 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Crop Residues 0.0521 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Agricultural Soils 0.6676 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure applied to Soils 0.2266 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure Management 0.2677 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure left on Pasture 2.21 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - IPCC Agriculture 3.17 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Crop Residues 0.2838 (2050)
Frequently asked questions
- What is malnutrition: share of children who are underweight in Burundi?
- Malnutrition: share of children who are underweight in Burundi was 28.3% in 2024, 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 Burundi?
- The highest recorded value was 39.1% in 2000.
- What is the lowest malnutrition: share of children who are underweight recorded in Burundi?
- The lowest recorded value was 27.0% in 2019.
- How does Burundi rank for malnutrition: share of children who are underweight?
- Burundi ranks 5th out of 96 countries with data for 2024.
- Is malnutrition: share of children who are underweight rising or falling in Burundi?
- Over the last ten years it is up 1.4%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Burundi 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 — 12 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.