Malnutrition: Share of children who are underweight in Chile

Chile: Malnutrition: Share of children who are underweight was 0.5% in 2014. ◆ Volatile

Latest (2014)
0.5%
Change on year
unchanged
World rank
94th
of 96 countries
All-time high
2.2%
in 1986
All-time low
0.5%
in 2008
Years of data
15
1986–2014

Malnutrition: Share of children who are underweight in Chile, 1986–2014

0.511.521986200020141986: 2.2 % of children under 51994: 0.8 % of children under 51995: 0.8 % of children under 51996: 0.7 % of children under 51998: 0.7 % of children under 51999: 0.7 % of children under 52001: 0.7 % of children under 52002: 0.7 % of children under 52003: 0.6 % of children under 52004: 0.6 % of children under 52006: 0.6 % of children under 52007: 0.6 % of children under 52008: 0.5 % of children under 52013: 0.5 % of children under 52014: 0.5 % 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

The most recent figure for malnutrition: share of children who are underweight in Chile is 0.5%, measured in 2014. That is the lowest value across all 15 years on record.

Compared with earlier readings it is down 16.7% over ten years.

Over the whole period, malnutrition: share of children who are underweight in Chile peaked at 2.2% in 1986 and was at its lowest, 0.5%, in 2008.

Chile ranks 94th of 96 countries on this measure, in the bottom quarter.

The series is highly variable year to year, so single readings are best treated with caution.

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1980s 2.2% 2.2% 2.2% 1
1990s 0.7% 0.7% 0.8% 5
2000s 0.6% 0.5% 0.7% 7
2010s 0.5% 0.5% 0.5% 2

Countries ranked near Chile

  1. 91 Tunisia 1.6% compare
  2. 92 Turkey 1.5% compare
  3. 93 United Kingdom 0.6% compare
  4. 95 South Korea 0.4% compare
  5. 95 United States 0.4% compare

See the full ranking of 96 places →

More reference data data for Chile

All data for Chile →

Frequently asked questions

What is malnutrition: share of children who are underweight in Chile?
Malnutrition: share of children who are underweight in Chile was 0.5% in 2014, 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 Chile?
The highest recorded value was 2.2% in 1986.
What is the lowest malnutrition: share of children who are underweight recorded in Chile?
The lowest recorded value was 0.5% in 2008.
How does Chile rank for malnutrition: share of children who are underweight?
Chile ranks 94th out of 96 countries with data for 2014.
Is malnutrition: share of children who are underweight rising or falling in Chile?
Over the last ten years it is down 16.7%. The long-run trend across the full record is volatile.
Where does this Chile 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 — 15 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).

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.