Malnutrition: Share of children who are underweight in Mexico
Mexico: Malnutrition: Share of children who are underweight was 4.2% in 2022. ▼ Falling
Malnutrition: Share of children who are underweight in Mexico, 1988–2022
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
In 2022, malnutrition: share of children who are underweight in Mexico stood at 4.2%.
That represents a change of up 50.0% over ten years.
Over the whole period, malnutrition: share of children who are underweight in Mexico peaked at 10.9% in 1988 and was at its lowest, 2.8%, in 2012.
Mexico ranks 66th of 96 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 14 years of available data.
Malnutrition: Share of children who are underweight in Mexico, year by year
| Year | % of children under 5 | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1988 | 10.9% | — |
| 1989 | 9.6% | -11.9% |
| 1996 | 10.3% | +7.3% |
| 1998 | 5.6% | -45.6% |
| 2002 | 4.2% | -25.0% |
| 2005 | 6.0% | +42.9% |
| 2006 | 3.4% | -43.3% |
| 2012 | 2.8% | -17.6% |
| 2015 | 3.9% | +39.3% |
| 2016 | 4.2% | +7.7% |
| 2019 | 4.7% | +11.9% |
| 2020 | 4.6% | -2.1% |
| 2021 | 4.2% | -8.7% |
| 2022 | 4.2% | +0.0% |
Mexico compared with similar countries
- Mexico's 4.2% is above the median for upper middle income countries, which is 4.0%, 1.0× the median. (26 countries reporting)
- Mexico's 4.2% is above the median for Latin America & Caribbean, which is 3.7%, 1.1× the median. (17 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1980s | 10.2% | 9.6% | 10.9% | 2 |
| 1990s | 8.0% | 5.6% | 10.3% | 2 |
| 2000s | 4.5% | 3.4% | 6.0% | 3 |
| 2010s | 3.9% | 2.8% | 4.7% | 4 |
| 2020s | 4.3% | 4.2% | 4.6% | 3 |
Countries ranked near Mexico
More reference data data for Mexico
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Manure applied to Soils 4.11 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Manure left on Pasture 16.66 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - IPCC Agriculture 32.65 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Crop Residues 1.75 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Agricultural Soils 32.65 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure applied to Soils 13.78 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure Management 7.36 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure left on Pasture 84.69 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - IPCC Agriculture 157.18 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Crop Residues 9.55 (2050)
Frequently asked questions
- What is malnutrition: share of children who are underweight in Mexico?
- Malnutrition: share of children who are underweight in Mexico was 4.2% 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 Mexico?
- The highest recorded value was 10.9% in 1988.
- What is the lowest malnutrition: share of children who are underweight recorded in Mexico?
- The lowest recorded value was 2.8% in 2012.
- How does Mexico rank for malnutrition: share of children who are underweight?
- Mexico ranks 66th out of 96 countries with data for 2022.
- Is malnutrition: share of children who are underweight rising or falling in Mexico?
- Over the last ten years it is up 50.0%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Mexico 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 — 14 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.