Malnutrition: Share of children who are underweight in Nigeria
Nigeria: Malnutrition: Share of children who are underweight was 24.4% in 2021. ▼ Falling
Malnutrition: Share of children who are underweight in Nigeria, 1990–2021
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 Nigeria is 24.4%, measured in 2021.
The figure is up 32.6% on the previous year and up 0.8% over ten years.
Over the whole period, malnutrition: share of children who are underweight in Nigeria peaked at 35.1% in 1993 and was at its lowest, 18.4%, in 2020.
Nigeria ranks 7th of 96 countries on this measure, in the top 10%.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 10 years of available data.
Malnutrition: Share of children who are underweight in Nigeria, year by year
| Year | % of children under 5 | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1990 | 33.1% | — |
| 1993 | 35.1% | +6.0% |
| 2003 | 26.7% | -23.9% |
| 2011 | 24.2% | -9.4% |
| 2014 | 20.6% | -14.9% |
| 2015 | 19.5% | -5.3% |
| 2016 | 31.5% | +61.5% |
| 2018 | 21.8% | -30.8% |
| 2020 | 18.4% | -15.6% |
| 2021 | 24.4% | +32.6% |
Nigeria compared with similar countries
- Nigeria's 24.4% is above the median for lower middle income countries, which is 11.6%, 2.1× the median. (38 countries reporting)
- Nigeria's 24.4% is above the median for Sub-Saharan Africa, which is 14.3%, 1.7× the median. (34 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 34.1% | 33.1% | 35.1% | 2 |
| 2000s | 26.7% | 26.7% | 26.7% | 1 |
| 2010s | 23.5% | 19.5% | 31.5% | 5 |
| 2020s | 21.4% | 18.4% | 24.4% | 2 |
Countries ranked near Nigeria
More reference data data for Nigeria
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Manure applied to Soils 1.77 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Manure left on Pasture 19.51 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - IPCC Agriculture 27 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Crop Residues 2.62 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Agricultural Soils 27 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure applied to Soils 5.94 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure Management 5.8 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure left on Pasture 81.9 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - IPCC Agriculture 121.16 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Crop Residues 14.27 (2050)
Frequently asked questions
- What is malnutrition: share of children who are underweight in Nigeria?
- Malnutrition: share of children who are underweight in Nigeria was 24.4% in 2021, 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 Nigeria?
- The highest recorded value was 35.1% in 1993.
- What is the lowest malnutrition: share of children who are underweight recorded in Nigeria?
- The lowest recorded value was 18.4% in 2020.
- How does Nigeria rank for malnutrition: share of children who are underweight?
- Nigeria ranks 7th out of 96 countries with data for 2021.
- Is malnutrition: share of children who are underweight rising or falling in Nigeria?
- Over the last ten years it is up 0.8%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Nigeria 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.