Malnutrition: Share of children who are underweight in Mauritania
Mauritania: Malnutrition: Share of children who are underweight was 22.4% in 2022. ▼ Falling
Malnutrition: Share of children who are underweight in Mauritania, 1996–2022
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
The most recent figure for malnutrition: share of children who are underweight in Mauritania is 22.4%, measured in 2022.
The figure is up 51.4% on the previous year and up 9.8% over ten years.
Over the whole period, malnutrition: share of children who are underweight in Mauritania peaked at 29.7% in 2000 and was at its lowest, 14.8%, in 2021.
Mauritania ranks 11th of 96 countries on this measure, in the top quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 12 years of available data.
Malnutrition: Share of children who are underweight in Mauritania, year by year
| Year | % of children under 5 | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1996 | 20.3% | — |
| 2000 | 29.7% | +46.3% |
| 2007 | 25.5% | -14.1% |
| 2008 | 16.5% | -35.3% |
| 2011 | 24.4% | +47.9% |
| 2012 | 20.4% | -16.4% |
| 2015 | 24.9% | +22.1% |
| 2018 | 19.2% | -22.9% |
| 2019 | 17.3% | -9.9% |
| 2020 | 16.8% | -2.9% |
| 2021 | 14.8% | -11.9% |
| 2022 | 22.4% | +51.4% |
Mauritania compared with similar countries
- Mauritania's 22.4% is above the median for lower middle income countries, which is 11.6%, 1.9× the median. (38 countries reporting)
- Mauritania's 22.4% is above the median for Sub-Saharan Africa, which is 14.3%, 1.6× the median. (34 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 20.3% | 20.3% | 20.3% | 1 |
| 2000s | 23.9% | 16.5% | 29.7% | 3 |
| 2010s | 21.2% | 17.3% | 24.9% | 5 |
| 2020s | 18.0% | 14.8% | 22.4% | 3 |
Countries ranked near Mauritania
More reference data data for Mauritania
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Manure applied to Soils 0.0975 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Manure left on Pasture 3.86 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - IPCC Agriculture 3.98 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Crop Residues 0.0216 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Agricultural Soils 3.98 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure applied to Soils 0.327 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure Management 0.1337 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure left on Pasture 14.4 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - IPCC Agriculture 14.99 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Crop Residues 0.1178 (2050)
Frequently asked questions
- What is malnutrition: share of children who are underweight in Mauritania?
- Malnutrition: share of children who are underweight in Mauritania was 22.4% 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 Mauritania?
- The highest recorded value was 29.7% in 2000.
- What is the lowest malnutrition: share of children who are underweight recorded in Mauritania?
- The lowest recorded value was 14.8% in 2021.
- How does Mauritania rank for malnutrition: share of children who are underweight?
- Mauritania ranks 11th out of 96 countries with data for 2022.
- Is malnutrition: share of children who are underweight rising or falling in Mauritania?
- Over the last ten years it is up 9.8%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Mauritania 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.