Malnutrition: Share of children who are underweight in Mali

Mali: Malnutrition: Share of children who are underweight was 15.0% in 2024. ▼ Falling

Latest (2024)
15.0%
Change on year
down 18.9%
World rank
31st
of 96 countries
All-time high
39.7%
in 1996
All-time low
14.9%
in 2020
Years of data
16
1987–2024

Malnutrition: Share of children who are underweight in Mali, 1987–2024

0102030401987200520241987: 27.3 % of children under 51996: 39.7 % of children under 52001: 30 % of children under 52006: 27.9 % of children under 52010: 18.9 % of children under 52011: 20 % of children under 52014: 24.1 % of children under 52015: 25 % of children under 52016: 20.2 % of children under 52017: 17.1 % of children under 52018: 18.6 % of children under 52019: 18.5 % of children under 52020: 14.9 % of children under 52021: 17.5 % of children under 52022: 18.5 % of children under 52024: 15 % 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

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.

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest 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

  1. 28 Mozambique 15.4% compare
  2. 29 Malaysia 15.3% compare
  3. 30 Togo 15.2% compare
  4. 31 Guinea 15.0% compare
  5. 33 Maldives 14.8% compare
  6. 34 Guatemala 14.4% compare

See the full ranking of 96 places →

More reference data data for Mali

All data for Mali →

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

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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.