Malnutrition: Share of children who are underweight in Mozambique

Mozambique: Malnutrition: Share of children who are underweight was 15.4% in 2022. ▼ Falling

Latest (2022)
15.4%
Change on year
up 4.1%
World rank
28th
of 96 countries
All-time high
24.7%
in 1997
All-time low
14.8%
in 2020
Years of data
9
1995–2022

Malnutrition: Share of children who are underweight in Mozambique, 1995–2022

05101520251995200820221995: 23.9 % of children under 51997: 24.7 % of children under 52001: 24.5 % of children under 52003: 21.2 % of children under 52008: 18.2 % of children under 52011: 15.6 % of children under 52015: 15.6 % of children under 52020: 14.8 % of children under 52022: 15.4 % 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 Mozambique stood at 15.4%.

That represents a change of up 4.1% on the previous year and down 1.3% over ten years.

Over the whole period, malnutrition: share of children who are underweight in Mozambique peaked at 24.7% in 1997 and was at its lowest, 14.8%, in 2020.

Mozambique ranks 28th of 96 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1990s 24.3% 23.9% 24.7% 2
2000s 21.3% 18.2% 24.5% 3
2010s 15.6% 15.6% 15.6% 2
2020s 15.1% 14.8% 15.4% 2

Countries ranked near Mozambique

  1. 25 Cambodia 16.3% compare
  2. 26 Senegal 16.2% compare
  3. 27 Indonesia 15.9% compare
  4. 29 Malaysia 15.3% compare
  5. 30 Togo 15.2% compare
  6. 31 Guinea 15.0% compare
  7. 31 Mali 15.0% compare

See the full ranking of 96 places →

More reference data data for Mozambique

All data for Mozambique →

Frequently asked questions

What is malnutrition: share of children who are underweight in Mozambique?
Malnutrition: share of children who are underweight in Mozambique was 15.4% 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 Mozambique?
The highest recorded value was 24.7% in 1997.
What is the lowest malnutrition: share of children who are underweight recorded in Mozambique?
The lowest recorded value was 14.8% in 2020.
How does Mozambique rank for malnutrition: share of children who are underweight?
Mozambique ranks 28th out of 96 countries with data for 2022.
Is malnutrition: share of children who are underweight rising or falling in Mozambique?
Over the last ten years it is down 1.3%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
Where does this Mozambique 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.