Malnutrition: Share of children who are underweight in Ghana
Ghana: Malnutrition: Share of children who are underweight was 12.0% in 2022. ▼ Falling
Malnutrition: Share of children who are underweight in Ghana, 1988–2022
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
Ghana recorded 12.0% for malnutrition: share of children who are underweight in 2022.
Compared with earlier readings it is down 10.4% over ten years.
Over the whole period, malnutrition: share of children who are underweight in Ghana peaked at 25.1% in 1993 and was at its lowest, 11.2%, in 2014.
Ghana ranks 38th of 96 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 11 years of available data.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1980s | 22.9% | 22.9% | 22.9% | 1 |
| 1990s | 22.5% | 20.1% | 25.1% | 3 |
| 2000s | 15.8% | 13.9% | 19.0% | 3 |
| 2010s | 12.4% | 11.2% | 13.4% | 3 |
| 2020s | 12.0% | 12.0% | 12.0% | 1 |
Countries ranked near Ghana
More reference data data for Ghana
- Spring temperature anomalies -0.2851 °C (2026)
- Summer temperature anomalies -0.0419 °C (2026)
- Temperature anomalies by month 0.8532 °C (2026)
- Universal right to vote in practice 2 (2025)
- Autumn temperature anomalies 0.3544 °C (2025)
- Winter temperature anomalies 0.6214 °C (2025)
- Consumer price index 855.78 2010 = 100 (2025)
- Universal right to vote 2 (2025)
- Competitive elections 1 (2025)
- Men's universal right to vote 1 (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is malnutrition: share of children who are underweight in Ghana?
- Malnutrition: share of children who are underweight in Ghana was 12.0% 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 Ghana?
- The highest recorded value was 25.1% in 1993.
- What is the lowest malnutrition: share of children who are underweight recorded in Ghana?
- The lowest recorded value was 11.2% in 2014.
- How does Ghana rank for malnutrition: share of children who are underweight?
- Ghana ranks 38th out of 96 countries with data for 2022.
- Is malnutrition: share of children who are underweight rising or falling in Ghana?
- Over the last ten years it is down 10.4%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Ghana 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 — 11 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.