Malnutrition: Share of children who are underweight in Tanzania

Tanzania: Malnutrition: Share of children who are underweight was 11.4% in 2022. ▼ Falling

Latest (2022)
11.4%
Change on year
up 5.6%
World rank
42nd
of 96 countries
All-time high
26.8%
in 1996
All-time low
10.8%
in 2021
Years of data
13
1991–2022

Malnutrition: Share of children who are underweight in Tanzania, 1991–2022

01020301991200620221991: 24.8 % of children under 51996: 26.8 % of children under 51999: 25.3 % of children under 52004: 16.7 % of children under 52009: 16.4 % of children under 52010: 16.1 % of children under 52011: 14.1 % of children under 52013: 13.1 % of children under 52014: 13.4 % of children under 52015: 13.7 % of children under 52018: 14.6 % of children under 52021: 10.8 % of children under 52022: 11.4 % of children under 5

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 Tanzania is 11.4%, measured in 2022.

That represents a change of up 5.6% on the previous year and down 19.1% over ten years.

Over the whole period, malnutrition: share of children who are underweight in Tanzania peaked at 26.8% in 1996 and was at its lowest, 10.8%, in 2021.

Tanzania ranks 42nd of 96 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.

The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 13 years of available data.

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1990s 25.6% 24.8% 26.8% 3
2000s 16.5% 16.4% 16.7% 2
2010s 14.2% 13.1% 16.1% 6
2020s 11.1% 10.8% 11.4% 2

Countries ranked near Tanzania

  1. 40 Zambia 11.8% compare
  2. 41 Gambia 11.6% compare
  3. 43 Oman 11.2% compare
  4. 44 Cameroon 11.0% compare
  5. 45 Liberia 10.9% compare

See the full ranking of 96 places →

More reference data data for Tanzania

All data for Tanzania →

Frequently asked questions

What is malnutrition: share of children who are underweight in Tanzania?
Malnutrition: share of children who are underweight in Tanzania was 11.4% 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 Tanzania?
The highest recorded value was 26.8% in 1996.
What is the lowest malnutrition: share of children who are underweight recorded in Tanzania?
The lowest recorded value was 10.8% in 2021.
How does Tanzania rank for malnutrition: share of children who are underweight?
Tanzania ranks 42nd out of 96 countries with data for 2022.
Is malnutrition: share of children who are underweight rising or falling in Tanzania?
Over the last ten years it is down 19.1%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
Where does this Tanzania 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

Indicator
Malnutrition: Share of children who are underweight
Unit
% of children under 5
Source
Joint child Malnutrition Estimates (JME) - UNICEF, WHO, and World Bank (2026) – processed by Our World in Data
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage
96 places, 957 data points, 1984–2024
Last refreshed

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.