Malnutrition: Share of children who are underweight in Kuwait

Kuwait: Malnutrition: Share of children who are underweight was 2.8% in 2023. ▲ Rising

Latest (2023)
2.8%
Change on year
down 3.4%
World rank
79th
of 96 countries
All-time high
3.6%
in 2013
All-time low
1.5%
in 1996
Years of data
24
1996–2023

Malnutrition: Share of children who are underweight in Kuwait, 1996–2023

012341996200920231996: 1.5 % of children under 52001: 2.2 % of children under 52002: 2.1 % of children under 52003: 2.3 % of children under 52004: 2.8 % of children under 52005: 2.6 % of children under 52006: 2.9 % of children under 52007: 2.9 % of children under 52008: 2.4 % of children under 52009: 1.7 % of children under 52010: 1.7 % of children under 52011: 2.1 % of children under 52012: 2.1 % of children under 52013: 3.6 % of children under 52014: 3 % of children under 52015: 3.2 % of children under 52016: 3.3 % of children under 52017: 3.6 % of children under 52018: 3.3 % of children under 52019: 2 % of children under 52020: 1.8 % of children under 52021: 2.4 % of children under 52022: 2.9 % of children under 52023: 2.8 % 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 Kuwait is 2.8%, measured in 2023.

The figure is down 3.4% on the previous year and down 22.2% over ten years.

Over the whole period, malnutrition: share of children who are underweight in Kuwait peaked at 3.6% in 2013 and was at its lowest, 1.5%, in 1996.

That places Kuwait 79th out of 96 countries with data for 2023, putting it in the bottom quarter.

The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 24 years of available data.

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1990s 1.5% 1.5% 1.5% 1
2000s 2.4% 1.7% 2.9% 9
2010s 2.8% 1.7% 3.6% 10
2020s 2.5% 1.8% 2.9% 4

Countries ranked near Kuwait

  1. 76 Costa Rica 2.9% compare
  2. 76 Kyrgyzstan 2.9% compare
  3. 76 Venezuela 2.9% compare
  4. 80 Algeria 2.7% compare
  5. 80 Peru 2.7% compare
  6. 82 Armenia 2.6% compare

See the full ranking of 96 places →

More reference data data for Kuwait

All data for Kuwait →

Frequently asked questions

What is malnutrition: share of children who are underweight in Kuwait?
Malnutrition: share of children who are underweight in Kuwait was 2.8% in 2023, 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 Kuwait?
The highest recorded value was 3.6% in 2013.
What is the lowest malnutrition: share of children who are underweight recorded in Kuwait?
The lowest recorded value was 1.5% in 1996.
How does Kuwait rank for malnutrition: share of children who are underweight?
Kuwait ranks 79th out of 96 countries with data for 2023.
Is malnutrition: share of children who are underweight rising or falling in Kuwait?
Over the last ten years it is down 22.2%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
Where does this Kuwait 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 — 24 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.