Malnutrition: Share of children who are underweight in Peru
Peru: Malnutrition: Share of children who are underweight was 2.7% in 2023. ▼ Falling
Malnutrition: Share of children who are underweight in Peru, 1991–2023
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 2023, malnutrition: share of children who are underweight in Peru stood at 2.7%.
The figure is up 12.5% on the previous year and down 25.0% over ten years.
Over the whole period, malnutrition: share of children who are underweight in Peru peaked at 8.8% in 1991 and was at its lowest, 2.1%, in 2021.
Peru ranks 80th of 96 countries on this measure, in the bottom quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 24 years of available data.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 7.2% | 5.7% | 8.8% | 5 |
| 2000s | 5.0% | 4.3% | 6.0% | 5 |
| 2010s | 3.4% | 2.6% | 4.3% | 10 |
| 2020s | 2.4% | 2.1% | 2.7% | 4 |
Countries ranked near Peru
More reference data data for Peru
- Spring temperature anomalies 0.5139 °C (2026)
- Summer temperature anomalies 0.6126 °C (2026)
- Temperature anomalies by month 0.2052 °C (2026)
- Universal right to vote in practice 2 (2025)
- Autumn temperature anomalies 0.4994 °C (2025)
- Winter temperature anomalies 0.6602 °C (2025)
- Consumer price index 165.52 2010 = 100 (2025)
- Universal right to vote 2 (2025)
- Competitive elections 1 (2025)
- Men's universal right to vote 1 (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is malnutrition: share of children who are underweight in Peru?
- Malnutrition: share of children who are underweight in Peru was 2.7% in 2023, 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 Peru?
- The highest recorded value was 8.8% in 1991.
- What is the lowest malnutrition: share of children who are underweight recorded in Peru?
- The lowest recorded value was 2.1% in 2021.
- How does Peru rank for malnutrition: share of children who are underweight?
- Peru ranks 80th out of 96 countries with data for 2023.
- Is malnutrition: share of children who are underweight rising or falling in Peru?
- Over the last ten years it is down 25.0%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Peru 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 — 24 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.