Malnutrition: Share of children who are underweight in Malaysia
Malaysia: Malnutrition: Share of children who are underweight was 15.3% in 2022. ▼ Falling
Malnutrition: Share of children who are underweight in Malaysia, 1990–2022
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
Malaysia recorded 15.3% for malnutrition: share of children who are underweight in 2022.
Compared with earlier readings it is up 3.4% on the previous year and up 22.4% over ten years.
Over the whole period, malnutrition: share of children who are underweight in Malaysia peaked at 23.1% in 1991 and was at its lowest, 12.5%, in 2015.
That places Malaysia 29th out of 96 countries with data for 2022, putting it in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 12 years of available data.
Malnutrition: Share of children who are underweight in Malaysia, year by year
| Year | % of children under 5 | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1990 | 22.1% | — |
| 1991 | 23.1% | +4.5% |
| 1992 | 22.6% | -2.2% |
| 1993 | 20.5% | -9.3% |
| 1994 | 19.7% | -3.9% |
| 1995 | 17.7% | -10.2% |
| 1999 | 16.7% | -5.6% |
| 2006 | 12.7% | -24.0% |
| 2015 | 12.5% | -1.6% |
| 2016 | 13.7% | +9.6% |
| 2019 | 14.8% | +8.0% |
| 2022 | 15.3% | +3.4% |
Malaysia compared with similar countries
- Malaysia's 15.3% is above the median for upper middle income countries, which is 4.0%, 3.8× the median. (26 countries reporting)
- Malaysia's 15.3% is above the median for East Asia & Pacific, which is 15.3%, 1.0× the median. (13 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 20.3% | 16.7% | 23.1% | 7 |
| 2000s | 12.7% | 12.7% | 12.7% | 1 |
| 2010s | 13.7% | 12.5% | 14.8% | 3 |
| 2020s | 15.3% | 15.3% | 15.3% | 1 |
Countries ranked near Malaysia
More reference data data for Malaysia
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Manure applied to Soils 0.7102 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Manure left on Pasture 0.5869 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - IPCC Agriculture 4.62 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Crop Residues 0.1487 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Agricultural Soils 4.62 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure applied to Soils 2.38 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure Management 1.64 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure left on Pasture 3.29 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - IPCC Agriculture 21.1 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Crop Residues 0.8098 (2050)
Frequently asked questions
- What is malnutrition: share of children who are underweight in Malaysia?
- Malnutrition: share of children who are underweight in Malaysia was 15.3% 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 Malaysia?
- The highest recorded value was 23.1% in 1991.
- What is the lowest malnutrition: share of children who are underweight recorded in Malaysia?
- The lowest recorded value was 12.5% in 2015.
- How does Malaysia rank for malnutrition: share of children who are underweight?
- Malaysia ranks 29th out of 96 countries with data for 2022.
- Is malnutrition: share of children who are underweight rising or falling in Malaysia?
- Over the last ten years it is up 22.4%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Malaysia 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.