UNICEF · Minimum Dietary Diversity, Children Aged 6–23 Months
Minimum dietary diversity for young children by country
What share of young children eat from at least five of eight food groups?
Serbia placed first of the 109 countries compared in the 2025 edition, at 85.88%, and Guinea-Bissau last, at 8.09%. In the middle country the figure was 39.36%. 6 readings from before 2015 are listed but not compared.
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Part ofHealth & Wellbeing
Minimum dietary diversity for young children · the 2025 edition
Context statistic
Highest of 109Serbia
85.88%01the 2025 edition · position · derived
Who leads
The three countries at the highest end of 109 compared, the three at the other end, and the first on each continent.
1Photo: Lošmi derivative work: Jjtkk · CC BY-SA 3.0, greyscale
2Photo: Martin St-Amant (S23678) · CC BY 3.0, greyscale
3Photo: User:Gire 3pich2005 , derived: User:Nastoshka · CC0, greyscale
Lowest in the 2025 edition
- 115
Guinea-Bissau8.09% - 114
Liberia8.61% - 113
Kiribati9.30%
Positions out of 115. Where a country sits says how it compares with the others measured, and nothing about why.
02Every measured country
Minimum dietary diversity for young children on a map
Each country is shaded by its value, in five groups holding the same number of countries. Hover a country for its value, or select it to open its profile. Below the map, each continent’s middle country.
Darker is a higher value — the better end.
- 8.09–19.18%
- 19.77–28.39%
- 28.60–45.48%
- 46.70–59.32%
- 59.44–85.88%
- Hatched: a reading from before 2015, listed but not compared (6)
- No reading in the 2025 edition
- Europe
66.02%
the middle country, of 5 measured · 49 members
Serbia85.88%
Albania52.50%Highest and lowest reading in Europe.
- Americas
57.88%
the middle country, of 20 measured · 48 members
Peru84.83%
Haiti19.18%Highest and lowest reading in Americas.
- Asia
46.70%
the middle country, of 35 measured · 52 members
Iran84.00%
Afghanistan14.79%Highest and lowest reading in Asia.
- Oceania
32.18%
the middle country, of 9 measured · 21 members
Fiji59.16%Kiribati9.30%Highest and lowest reading in Oceania.
- Africa
20.53%
the middle country, of 40 measured · 55 members
Tunisia63.76%Guinea-Bissau8.09%Highest and lowest reading in Africa.
- Every region
18 sub-regions, highest middle country first
- South America
68.77%
the middle country, of 8 measured · 12 members
Peru84.83%
Suriname28.11%Highest and lowest reading in South America.
- Central America
58.57%
the middle country, of 6 measured · 8 members
Costa Rica75.67%
El Salvador54.80%Highest and lowest reading in Central America.
- Central Asia
56.11%
the middle country, of 5 measured · 5 members
Turkmenistan79.04%
Tajikistan27.81%Highest and lowest reading in Central Asia.
- Caribbean
53.77%
the middle country, of 6 measured · 24 members
Dominican Republic65.77%Haiti19.18%Highest and lowest reading in Caribbean.
- South-eastern Asia
47.93%
the middle country, of 8 measured · 11 members
Thailand72.11%
Myanmar21.33%Highest and lowest reading in South-eastern Asia.
- Western Asia
43.50%
the middle country, of 10 measured · 19 members
Qatar63.53%
Yemen23.00%Highest and lowest reading in Western Asia.
- Southern Asia
37.57%
the middle country, of 9 measured · 9 members
Iran84.00%Afghanistan14.79%Highest and lowest reading in Southern Asia.
- Middle Africa
23.11%
the middle country, of 6 measured · 9 members
São Tomé and Príncipe32.27%
DR Congo13.93%Highest and lowest reading in Middle Africa.
- Western Africa
19.02%
the middle country, of 15 measured · 16 members
Ghana41.43%Guinea-Bissau8.09%Highest and lowest reading in Western Africa.
- Eastern Africa
18.77%
the middle country, of 13 measured · 19 members
Kenya36.93%
Uganda10.00%Highest and lowest reading in Eastern Africa.
- Eastern Asia
3 of 8 measured — too few for a middle: China, Mongolia, North Korea.
China60.60%
Mongolia45.20%Highest and lowest reading in Eastern Asia.
- Eastern Europe
1 of 10 measured — too few for a middle: Belarus.
Belarus69.58%Highest and lowest reading in Eastern Europe.
- Melanesia
3 of 5 measured — too few for a middle: Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu.
Fiji59.16%
Vanuatu25.23%Highest and lowest reading in Melanesia.
- Micronesia
3 of 7 measured — too few for a middle: Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Nauru.
Nauru49.57%Kiribati9.30%Highest and lowest reading in Micronesia.
- Northern Africa
3 of 6 measured — too few for a middle: Algeria, Egypt, Tunisia.
Tunisia63.76%
Algeria39.36%Highest and lowest reading in Northern Africa.
- Polynesia
3 of 7 measured — too few for a middle: Samoa, Tonga, Tuvalu.
Tonga53.49%
Samoa20.05%Highest and lowest reading in Polynesia.
- Southern Africa
3 of 5 measured — too few for a middle: Eswatini, Lesotho, South Africa.
South Africa39.91%
Lesotho14.99%Highest and lowest reading in Southern Africa.
- Southern Europe
4 of 17 measured — too few for a middle: Albania, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia.
Serbia85.88%Albania52.50%Highest and lowest reading in Southern Europe.
03The whole field at once
The spread
109 countries, one dot each, on one scale — further right is a higher value. Half the countries are above 39.36%; a quarter are above 56.17%, and a quarter below 21.33%. The bar in each row marks that continent’s middle country.
04All 115 ever measured
Every country
In order, highest value first. “=” marks a position shared with another country. UNICEF ranks nobody on this measure; the position is derived here by ordering the published values. These surveys are run mainly in low- and middle-income countries, so most wealthy countries are absent rather than low. The figure describes a single day's meals, and each reading is marked as re-analysed by UNICEF or taken from the survey's own report.
Showing 25 of 115 countries
Values for the 2025 edition.
05In this edition
Minimum dietary diversity for young children in records
The extremes of the statistic. A record reached by more than one country names none of them.
Highest reading
85.88%
Children aged 6-23 months fed from at least 5 of 8 food groups (%)
Lowest reading
8.09%
Children aged 6-23 months fed from at least 5 of 8 food groups (%)
06The measure
About minimum dietary diversity for young children
This is the share of children aged 6 to 23 months who ate foods from at least five of eight food groups on the previous day. Variety is the simplest test of whether a young child's diet supplies the vitamins and minerals that growth needs, and it is the standard measure WHO and UNICEF use.
What the number is: Children aged 6-23 months fed from at least 5 of 8 food groups (%).
07Where it fits
Connections
Its part in the Country Index, the statistics whose values line up most closely with it across countries, and others on the same subject.
In the Country Index
Context, with no vote
This statistic is published in full under Health & Wellbeing, but does not help decide any Country Index standing.
Moves with
Where minimum dietary diversity for young children is higher, these tend to be higher too.
- Human Development IndexKeyUNDP Human Development Report Office · 107 countries in commonρ 0.81
- Human Capital IndexWorld Bank Group · 96 countries in commonρ 0.81
- Inequality-adjusted Human Development IndexUNDP Human Development Report Office · 97 countries in commonρ 0.80
Moves against
Where minimum dietary diversity for young children is higher, these tend to be lower.
- Severe Child Food Poverty, Children Aged 6–23 MonthsUNICEF · 107 countries in commonρ −0.91
- Infant Mortality RateUN IGME · 109 countries in commonρ −0.80
- Under-Five Mortality RateKeyUN IGME · 109 countries in commonρ −0.80
Rank correlation (ρ, from −1 to 1) across countries, on each statistic’s newest edition, out of 290 statistics sharing at least 80 countries with this one. Two statistics that move together do not cause each other.
08Keep reading
Explore further
The subject
The data, edition by edition
09Questions
Minimum dietary diversity for young children: questions and answers
Which country has the highest minimum dietary diversity for young children?
Serbia, at 85.88%, among the 109 countries compared in the 2025 edition.
Which country has the lowest minimum dietary diversity for young children?
Guinea-Bissau, at 8.09%, among the 109 countries compared in the 2025 edition.
How many countries does the Minimum Dietary Diversity, Children Aged 6–23 Months cover?
109 in the 2025 edition, and 115 at least once across all editions.
What is the world average minimum dietary diversity for young children?
This site does not calculate a world average, which would depend on how countries are weighted. In the middle country of the 109 compared in the 2025 edition, the figure was 39.36%.
Is this UNICEF’s own ranking?
No. UNICEF publishes the values but ranks nobody; the position on this page is derived by Nations Inquiry by ordering the published values, and equal values share a position.
How often is the Minimum Dietary Diversity, Children Aged 6–23 Months published?
This site holds one edition, describing 2025.
Where does the data come from, and can I download it?
From UNICEF, under CC BY 3.0 IGO. From UNICEF's Global Infant and Young Child Feeding Databases, read from UNICEF's own data warehouse, which carries more decimal places than UNICEF's published workbooks. Each reading is marked as re-analysed by UNICEF or as reported by the survey itself. Every edition is on this site’s Datasets pages as a full table, and downloads as a CSV file with every value unrounded.
10Method
Sources, method and citation
Source
Minimum Dietary Diversity, Children Aged 6–23 Months — UNICEF
From UNICEF's Global Infant and Young Child Feeding Databases, read from UNICEF's own data warehouse, which carries more decimal places than UNICEF's published workbooks. Each reading is marked as re-analysed by UNICEF or as reported by the survey itself.
Newest edition
Report year 2025Data year not recorded
Cite the source as: UNICEF. Global Infant and Young Child Feeding Databases, December 2025. New York: UNICEF.
Licence: CC BY 3.0 IGO, checked 2026-10-03.
How this page reads the numbers
- UNICEF ranks nobody on this measure. The position is derived by Nations Inquiry by ordering the published values; equal values share a position.
- Which end is better follows the publisher’s own reading of the measure.
- A country is named at an end only when it holds that value alone. Where several share it, the page says how many and names none first.
- The file gives each country’s most recent reading, so the rows are from different years. Readings from before 2015 are listed but left out of every comparison on this page.
- Values are stored exactly as published and trimmed only for display. “The middle country” is the median of the countries measured, not a world average.
The file itself, column by column — where it came from, what each column holds, and every edition as a CSV — is on its dataset page.
Photographs
The countries at the top of this statistic, from their profiles: Wikimedia Commons, shown in greyscale, each used under the licence named.
Cite this page
Nations Inquiry (2026). Minimum dietary diversity for young children by country: Minimum Dietary Diversity, Children Aged 6–23 Months, data from UNICEF. https://nationsinquiry.com/statistics/child-dietary-diversity