Malnutrition: Share of children who are underweight in Cameroon

Cameroon: Malnutrition: Share of children who are underweight was 11.0% in 2018. ▼ Falling

Latest (2018)
11.0%
World rank
44th
of 96 countries
All-time high
18.1%
in 1998
All-time low
11.0%
in 2018
Years of data
7
1991–2018

Malnutrition: Share of children who are underweight in Cameroon, 1991–2018

051015201991200420181991: 12.9 % of children under 51998: 18.1 % of children under 52004: 15.1 % of children under 52006: 16.5 % of children under 52011: 15.2 % of children under 52014: 14.8 % of children under 52018: 11 % of children under 5

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 2018, malnutrition: share of children who are underweight in Cameroon stood at 11.0%. That is the lowest value across all 7 years on record.

That represents a change of down 33.3% over ten years.

Over the whole period, malnutrition: share of children who are underweight in Cameroon peaked at 18.1% in 1998 and was at its lowest, 11.0%, in 2018.

That places Cameroon 44th out of 96 countries with data for 2018, putting it in the middle of the range.

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1990s 15.5% 12.9% 18.1% 2
2000s 15.8% 15.1% 16.5% 2
2010s 13.7% 11.0% 15.2% 3

Countries ranked near Cameroon

  1. 41 Gambia 11.6% compare
  2. 42 Tanzania 11.4% compare
  3. 43 Oman 11.2% compare
  4. 45 Liberia 10.9% compare
  5. 46 Haiti 10.7% compare
  6. 47 Syria 10.4% compare

See the full ranking of 96 places →

More reference data data for Cameroon

All data for Cameroon →

Frequently asked questions

What is malnutrition: share of children who are underweight in Cameroon?
Malnutrition: share of children who are underweight in Cameroon was 11.0% in 2018, 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 Cameroon?
The highest recorded value was 18.1% in 1998.
What is the lowest malnutrition: share of children who are underweight recorded in Cameroon?
The lowest recorded value was 11.0% in 2018.
How does Cameroon rank for malnutrition: share of children who are underweight?
Cameroon ranks 44th out of 96 countries with data for 2018.
Is malnutrition: share of children who are underweight rising or falling in Cameroon?
Over the last ten years it is down 33.3%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
Where does this Cameroon 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

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About this data

Indicator
Malnutrition: Share of children who are underweight
Unit
% of children under 5
Source
Joint child Malnutrition Estimates (JME) - UNICEF, WHO, and World Bank (2026) – processed by Our World in Data
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage
96 places, 957 data points, 1984–2024
Last refreshed

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.