Malnutrition: Share of children who are underweight in Niger
Niger: Malnutrition: Share of children who are underweight was 34.6% in 2022. ▼ Falling
Malnutrition: Share of children who are underweight in Niger, 1985–2022
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 Niger is 34.6%, measured in 2022.
Compared with earlier readings it is up 4.2% on the previous year and up 7.8% over ten years.
Over the whole period, malnutrition: share of children who are underweight in Niger peaked at 46.6% in 1998 and was at its lowest, 31.3%, in 2019.
Niger ranks 2nd of 96 countries on this measure, in the top 10%.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 20 years of available data.
Malnutrition: Share of children who are underweight in Niger, year by year
| Year | % of children under 5 | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1985 | 45.0% | — |
| 1992 | 38.7% | -14.0% |
| 1998 | 46.6% | +20.4% |
| 2000 | 43.1% | -7.5% |
| 2006 | 35.6% | -17.4% |
| 2007 | 37.9% | +6.5% |
| 2008 | 34.6% | -8.7% |
| 2009 | 33.5% | -3.2% |
| 2010 | 40.0% | +19.4% |
| 2011 | 36.2% | -9.5% |
| 2012 | 32.1% | -11.3% |
| 2013 | 33.1% | +3.1% |
| 2014 | 34.6% | +4.5% |
| 2015 | 35.8% | +3.5% |
| 2016 | 32.0% | -10.6% |
| 2018 | 37.5% | +17.2% |
| 2019 | 31.3% | -16.5% |
| 2020 | 33.4% | +6.7% |
| 2021 | 33.2% | -0.6% |
| 2022 | 34.6% | +4.2% |
Niger compared with similar countries
- Niger's 34.6% is above the median for low income countries, which is 16.9%, 2.0× the median. (21 countries reporting)
- Niger's 34.6% is above the median for Sub-Saharan Africa, which is 14.3%, 2.4× the median. (34 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1980s | 45.0% | 45.0% | 45.0% | 1 |
| 1990s | 42.7% | 38.7% | 46.6% | 2 |
| 2000s | 36.9% | 33.5% | 43.1% | 5 |
| 2010s | 34.7% | 31.3% | 40.0% | 9 |
| 2020s | 33.7% | 33.2% | 34.6% | 3 |
Countries ranked near Niger
More reference data data for Niger
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Manure applied to Soils 0.2425 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Manure left on Pasture 8.66 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - IPCC Agriculture 9.7 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Crop Residues 0.57 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Agricultural Soils 9.7 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure applied to Soils 0.8132 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure Management 0.3983 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure left on Pasture 37.55 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - IPCC Agriculture 42.83 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Crop Residues 3.1 (2050)
Frequently asked questions
- What is malnutrition: share of children who are underweight in Niger?
- Malnutrition: share of children who are underweight in Niger was 34.6% 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 Niger?
- The highest recorded value was 46.6% in 1998.
- What is the lowest malnutrition: share of children who are underweight recorded in Niger?
- The lowest recorded value was 31.3% in 2019.
- How does Niger rank for malnutrition: share of children who are underweight?
- Niger ranks 2nd out of 96 countries with data for 2022.
- Is malnutrition: share of children who are underweight rising or falling in Niger?
- Over the last ten years it is up 7.8%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Niger 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 — 20 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.