Malnutrition: Share of children who are underweight in Philippines
Philippines: Malnutrition: Share of children who are underweight was 16.7% in 2021. ▼ Falling
Malnutrition: Share of children who are underweight in Philippines, 1987–2021
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
In 2021, malnutrition: share of children who are underweight in Philippines stood at 16.7%. That is the lowest value across all 13 years on record.
The figure is down 11.6% on the previous year and down 17.3% over ten years.
Over the whole period, malnutrition: share of children who are underweight in Philippines peaked at 29.9% in 1990 and was at its lowest, 16.7%, in 2021.
That places Philippines 24th out of 96 countries with data for 2021, putting it in the top quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 13 years of available data.
Malnutrition: Share of children who are underweight in Philippines, year by year
| Year | % of children under 5 | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1987 | 29.3% | — |
| 1990 | 29.9% | +2.0% |
| 1992 | 29.8% | -0.3% |
| 1993 | 26.3% | -11.7% |
| 1998 | 28.3% | +7.6% |
| 2003 | 20.8% | -26.5% |
| 2008 | 20.6% | -1.0% |
| 2011 | 20.2% | -1.9% |
| 2013 | 19.9% | -1.5% |
| 2015 | 21.4% | +7.5% |
| 2018 | 19.0% | -11.2% |
| 2019 | 18.9% | -0.5% |
| 2021 | 16.7% | -11.6% |
Philippines compared with similar countries
- Philippines's 16.7% is above the median for upper middle income countries, which is 4.0%, 4.1× the median. (26 countries reporting)
- Philippines's 16.7% is above the median for East Asia & Pacific, which is 15.3%, 1.1× the median. (13 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1980s | 29.3% | 29.3% | 29.3% | 1 |
| 1990s | 28.6% | 26.3% | 29.9% | 4 |
| 2000s | 20.7% | 20.6% | 20.8% | 2 |
| 2010s | 19.9% | 18.9% | 21.4% | 5 |
| 2020s | 16.7% | 16.7% | 16.7% | 1 |
Countries ranked near Philippines
More reference data data for Philippines
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Manure applied to Soils 2.21 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Manure left on Pasture 2.95 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - IPCC Agriculture 12.86 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Crop Residues 1.43 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Agricultural Soils 12.86 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure applied to Soils 7.4 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure Management 10.7 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure left on Pasture 15.23 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - IPCC Agriculture 67.05 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Crop Residues 7.76 (2050)
Frequently asked questions
- What is malnutrition: share of children who are underweight in Philippines?
- Malnutrition: share of children who are underweight in Philippines was 16.7% 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 Philippines?
- The highest recorded value was 29.9% in 1990.
- What is the lowest malnutrition: share of children who are underweight recorded in Philippines?
- The lowest recorded value was 16.7% in 2021.
- How does Philippines rank for malnutrition: share of children who are underweight?
- Philippines ranks 24th out of 96 countries with data for 2021.
- Is malnutrition: share of children who are underweight rising or falling in Philippines?
- Over the last ten years it is down 17.3%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Philippines 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 — 13 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.