Malnutrition: Share of children who are underweight in Mexico

Mexico: Malnutrition: Share of children who are underweight was 4.2% in 2022. ▼ Falling

Latest (2022)
4.2%
Change on year
unchanged
World rank
66th
of 96 countries
All-time high
10.9%
in 1988
All-time low
2.8%
in 2012
Years of data
14
1988–2022

Malnutrition: Share of children who are underweight in Mexico, 1988–2022

2468101988200520221988: 10.9 % of children under 51989: 9.6 % of children under 51996: 10.3 % of children under 51998: 5.6 % of children under 52002: 4.2 % of children under 52005: 6 % of children under 52006: 3.4 % of children under 52012: 2.8 % of children under 52015: 3.9 % of children under 52016: 4.2 % of children under 52019: 4.7 % of children under 52020: 4.6 % of children under 52021: 4.2 % of children under 52022: 4.2 % 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

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.

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest 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

  1. 64 Nicaragua 4.6% compare
  2. 65 Iran 4.3% compare
  3. 67 Iraq 3.9% compare
  4. 68 Colombia 3.7% compare
  5. 68 Egypt 3.7% compare

See the full ranking of 96 places →

More reference data data for Mexico

All data for Mexico →

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

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.