Malnutrition: Share of children who are underweight in Rwanda
Rwanda: Malnutrition: Share of children who are underweight was 7.7% in 2020. ▼ Falling
Malnutrition: Share of children who are underweight in Rwanda, 1992–2020
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
Rwanda recorded 7.7% for malnutrition: share of children who are underweight in 2020. That is the lowest value across all 10 years on record.
The figure is down 37.4% on the previous year and down 34.2% over ten years.
Over the whole period, malnutrition: share of children who are underweight in Rwanda peaked at 24.2% in 1992 and was at its lowest, 7.7%, in 2020.
That places Rwanda 56th out of 96 countries with data for 2020, putting it in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 10 years of available data.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 23.4% | 22.6% | 24.2% | 2 |
| 2000s | 17.5% | 14.3% | 20.3% | 3 |
| 2010s | 11.1% | 9.6% | 12.3% | 4 |
| 2020s | 7.7% | 7.7% | 7.7% | 1 |
Countries ranked near Rwanda
More reference data data for Rwanda
- Spring temperature anomalies 0.1214 °C (2026)
- Summer temperature anomalies 0.9964 °C (2026)
- Temperature anomalies by month 1.03 °C (2026)
- Universal right to vote in practice 2 (2025)
- Autumn temperature anomalies 0.9131 °C (2025)
- Winter temperature anomalies 0.3611 °C (2025)
- Consumer price index 251.19 2010 = 100 (2025)
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- 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 Rwanda?
- Malnutrition: share of children who are underweight in Rwanda was 7.7% in 2020, 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 Rwanda?
- The highest recorded value was 24.2% in 1992.
- What is the lowest malnutrition: share of children who are underweight recorded in Rwanda?
- The lowest recorded value was 7.7% in 2020.
- How does Rwanda rank for malnutrition: share of children who are underweight?
- Rwanda ranks 56th out of 96 countries with data for 2020.
- Is malnutrition: share of children who are underweight rising or falling in Rwanda?
- Over the last ten years it is down 34.2%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Rwanda 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.