Malnutrition: Share of children who are underweight in Uganda
Uganda: Malnutrition: Share of children who are underweight was 9.7% in 2022. ▼ Falling
Malnutrition: Share of children who are underweight in Uganda, 1988–2022
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 2022, malnutrition: share of children who are underweight in Uganda stood at 9.7%.
Compared with earlier readings it is up 27.6% on the previous year and down 18.5% over ten years.
Over the whole period, malnutrition: share of children who are underweight in Uganda peaked at 21.3% in 1995 and was at its lowest, 7.6%, in 2020.
That places Uganda 49th out of 96 countries with data for 2022, putting it in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 13 years of available data.
Malnutrition: Share of children who are underweight in Uganda, year by year
| Year | % of children under 5 | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1988 | 19.7% | — |
| 1995 | 21.3% | +8.1% |
| 2000 | 19.2% | -9.9% |
| 2006 | 16.3% | -15.1% |
| 2009 | 15.7% | -3.7% |
| 2011 | 14.1% | -10.2% |
| 2012 | 11.9% | -15.6% |
| 2014 | 11.7% | -1.7% |
| 2015 | 8.8% | -24.8% |
| 2016 | 10.4% | +18.2% |
| 2018 | 7.7% | -26.0% |
| 2020 | 7.6% | -1.3% |
| 2022 | 9.7% | +27.6% |
Uganda compared with similar countries
- Uganda's 9.7% is below the median for low income countries, which is 16.9%, 57% of the median. (21 countries reporting)
- Uganda's 9.7% is below the median for Sub-Saharan Africa, which is 14.3%, 68% of the median. (34 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1980s | 19.7% | 19.7% | 19.7% | 1 |
| 1990s | 21.3% | 21.3% | 21.3% | 1 |
| 2000s | 17.1% | 15.7% | 19.2% | 3 |
| 2010s | 10.8% | 7.7% | 14.1% | 6 |
| 2020s | 8.6% | 7.6% | 9.7% | 2 |
Countries ranked near Uganda
More reference data data for Uganda
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Manure applied to Soils 1.36 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Manure left on Pasture 5.95 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - IPCC Agriculture 7.86 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Crop Residues 0.4214 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Agricultural Soils 7.86 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure applied to Soils 4.57 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure Management 5.13 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure left on Pasture 29.65 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - IPCC Agriculture 42.22 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Crop Residues 2.29 (2050)
Frequently asked questions
- What is malnutrition: share of children who are underweight in Uganda?
- Malnutrition: share of children who are underweight in Uganda was 9.7% 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 Uganda?
- The highest recorded value was 21.3% in 1995.
- What is the lowest malnutrition: share of children who are underweight recorded in Uganda?
- The lowest recorded value was 7.6% in 2020.
- How does Uganda rank for malnutrition: share of children who are underweight?
- Uganda ranks 49th out of 96 countries with data for 2022.
- Is malnutrition: share of children who are underweight rising or falling in Uganda?
- Over the last ten years it is down 18.5%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Uganda 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.