Malnutrition: Share of children who are underweight in Mali
Mali: Malnutrition: Share of children who are underweight was 15.0% in 2024. ▼ Falling
Malnutrition: Share of children who are underweight in Mali, 1987–2024
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
Mali recorded 15.0% for malnutrition: share of children who are underweight in 2024.
Compared with earlier readings it is down 18.9% on the previous year and down 37.8% over ten years.
Over the whole period, malnutrition: share of children who are underweight in Mali peaked at 39.7% in 1996 and was at its lowest, 14.9%, in 2020.
Mali ranks 31st of 96 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 16 years of available data.
Malnutrition: Share of children who are underweight in Mali, year by year
| Year | % of children under 5 | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1987 | 27.3% | — |
| 1996 | 39.7% | +45.4% |
| 2001 | 30.0% | -24.4% |
| 2006 | 27.9% | -7.0% |
| 2010 | 18.9% | -32.3% |
| 2011 | 20.0% | +5.8% |
| 2014 | 24.1% | +20.5% |
| 2015 | 25.0% | +3.7% |
| 2016 | 20.2% | -19.2% |
| 2017 | 17.1% | -15.3% |
| 2018 | 18.6% | +8.8% |
| 2019 | 18.5% | -0.5% |
| 2020 | 14.9% | -19.5% |
| 2021 | 17.5% | +17.4% |
| 2022 | 18.5% | +5.7% |
| 2024 | 15.0% | -18.9% |
Mali compared with similar countries
- Mali's 15.0% is below the median for low income countries, which is 16.9%, 89% of the median. (21 countries reporting)
- Mali's 15.0% is above the median for Sub-Saharan Africa, which is 14.3%, 1.0× the median. (34 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1980s | 27.3% | 27.3% | 27.3% | 1 |
| 1990s | 39.7% | 39.7% | 39.7% | 1 |
| 2000s | 28.9% | 27.9% | 30.0% | 2 |
| 2010s | 20.3% | 17.1% | 25.0% | 8 |
| 2020s | 16.5% | 14.9% | 18.5% | 4 |
Countries ranked near Mali
More reference data data for Mali
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Manure applied to Soils 0.3081 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Manure left on Pasture 9.25 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - IPCC Agriculture 11.03 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Crop Residues 0.4025 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Agricultural Soils 11.03 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure applied to Soils 1.03 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure Management 0.4728 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure left on Pasture 39.47 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - IPCC Agriculture 47.61 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Crop Residues 2.19 (2050)
Frequently asked questions
- What is malnutrition: share of children who are underweight in Mali?
- Malnutrition: share of children who are underweight in Mali was 15.0% in 2024, 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 Mali?
- The highest recorded value was 39.7% in 1996.
- What is the lowest malnutrition: share of children who are underweight recorded in Mali?
- The lowest recorded value was 14.9% in 2020.
- How does Mali rank for malnutrition: share of children who are underweight?
- Mali ranks 31st out of 96 countries with data for 2024.
- Is malnutrition: share of children who are underweight rising or falling in Mali?
- Over the last ten years it is down 37.8%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Mali 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 — 16 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.