Malnutrition: Share of children who are underweight in Myanmar
Myanmar: Malnutrition: Share of children who are underweight was 19.5% in 2018. ▼ Falling
Malnutrition: Share of children who are underweight in Myanmar, 1990–2018
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
Myanmar recorded 19.5% for malnutrition: share of children who are underweight in 2018.
The figure is up 5.4% on the previous year and down 13.7% over ten years.
Over the whole period, malnutrition: share of children who are underweight in Myanmar peaked at 38.7% in 1995 and was at its lowest, 18.5%, in 2016.
That places Myanmar 15th out of 96 countries with data for 2018, putting it in the top quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 10 years of available data.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 33.5% | 28.1% | 38.7% | 5 |
| 2000s | 27.3% | 22.6% | 30.0% | 3 |
| 2010s | 19.0% | 18.5% | 19.5% | 2 |
Countries ranked near Myanmar
- 12 Bangladesh 21.7% compare
- 13 Ethiopia 21.2% compare
- 14 Benin 19.6% compare
- 16 Guinea-Bissau 18.8% compare
- 17 Afghanistan 18.4% compare
- 17 Central African Republic 18.4% compare
More reference data data for Myanmar
- Spring temperature anomalies -0.0963 °C (2026)
- Summer temperature anomalies 0.0987 °C (2026)
- Temperature anomalies by month 0.4249 °C (2026)
- Universal right to vote in practice 0 (2025)
- Autumn temperature anomalies 0.5675 °C (2025)
- Winter temperature anomalies 0.2735 °C (2025)
- Consumer price index 168.18 2010 = 100 (2019)
- Universal right to vote 2 (2025)
- Competitive elections 0 (2025)
- Men's universal right to vote 1 (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is malnutrition: share of children who are underweight in Myanmar?
- Malnutrition: share of children who are underweight in Myanmar was 19.5% in 2018, 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 Myanmar?
- The highest recorded value was 38.7% in 1995.
- What is the lowest malnutrition: share of children who are underweight recorded in Myanmar?
- The lowest recorded value was 18.5% in 2016.
- How does Myanmar rank for malnutrition: share of children who are underweight?
- Myanmar ranks 15th out of 96 countries with data for 2018.
- Is malnutrition: share of children who are underweight rising or falling in Myanmar?
- Over the last ten years it is down 13.7%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Myanmar 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 — 10 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.