UNICEF, WHO and World Bank Group (Joint Malnutrition Estimates) · Wasting Prevalence in Children Under Five
Child wasting by country
What share of young children are too thin for their height?
Of the 134 countries compared in the 2024 edition, United States had the lowest reading, 0.1000%, and India had the highest reading, 18.7455%. In the middle country the figure was 3.5089%. 29 readings from before 2014 are listed but not compared.
Child wasting · the 2024 edition
Context statistic
Lowest of 134United States
0.1000%01the 2024 edition · position · derived
Who leads
The three countries at the lowest end of 134 compared, the three at the other end, and the first on each continent.
1Photo: Stefano Brivio · CC BY 2.0, greyscale
2Photo: Unknown author · CC BY-SA 2.0, greyscale
3Photo: Alexandre Buisse ( ) · CC BY-SA 3.0, greyscale
Lowest on each continent
- Africa
Rwanda1.1190% - AmericasUnited States0.1000%
- Asia
South Korea0.2000% - Europe
2 countries share 0.4000%
- Oceania
Tonga1.0607% - Every region
02Every measured country
Child wasting 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 lower value — the better end.
- 7.2409–18.7455%
- 4.4000–7.2000%
- 2.9000–4.3035%
- 1.6000–2.7659%
- 0.1000–1.5842%
- Hatched: a reading from before 2014, listed but not compared (29)
- No reading in the 2024 edition
- Europe
1.5654%
the middle country, of 16 measured · 49 members
2 share 0.4000%
Bulgaria5.9000%Lowest and highest reading in Europe.
- Americas
1.7466%
the middle country, of 24 measured · 48 members
United States0.1000%
Guyana6.4506%Lowest and highest reading in Americas.
- Oceania
3.2961%
the middle country, of 8 measured · 21 members
Tonga1.0607%
Solomon Islands8.4654%Lowest and highest reading in Oceania.
- Asia
4.3500%
the middle country, of 40 measured · 52 members
South Korea0.2000%
India18.7455%Lowest and highest reading in Asia.
- Africa
5.0839%
the middle country, of 46 measured · 55 members
Rwanda1.1190%
Sudan16.3094%Lowest and highest reading in Africa.
- Every region
21 sub-regions, lowest middle country first
- Northern Europe
1.6000%
the middle country, of 5 measured · 13 members
United Kingdom0.4000%
Lithuania4.9000%Lowest and highest reading in Northern Europe.
- South America
1.6478%
the middle country, of 11 measured · 12 members
Chile0.3000%Guyana6.4506%Lowest and highest reading in South America.
- Central America
1.7670%
the middle country, of 7 measured · 8 members
Guatemala0.8000%
El Salvador2.9000%Lowest and highest reading in Central America.
- Southern Europe
1.8890%
the middle country, of 6 measured · 17 members
Malta0.4000%
North Macedonia3.3599%Lowest and highest reading in Southern Europe.
- Caribbean
2.1712%
the middle country, of 5 measured · 24 members
Turks and Caicos Islands1.1549%
Haiti4.9838%Lowest and highest reading in Caribbean.
- Northern Africa
3.0249%
the middle country, of 6 measured · 6 members
Tunisia2.0753%Sudan16.3094%Lowest and highest reading in Northern Africa.
- Western Asia
3.0292%
the middle country, of 13 measured · 19 members
Georgia0.6301%
Yemen16.8473%Lowest and highest reading in Western Asia.
- Central Asia
3.0998%
the middle country, of 5 measured · 5 members
Uzbekistan2.4214%
Tajikistan6.4000%Lowest and highest reading in Central Asia.
- Eastern Africa
4.5290%
the middle country, of 13 measured · 19 members
Rwanda1.1190%
Djibouti12.1000%Lowest and highest reading in Eastern Africa.
- Middle Africa
5.0605%
the middle country, of 8 measured · 9 members
Gabon3.4217%
Republic of the Congo8.1693%Lowest and highest reading in Middle Africa.
- Southern Asia
7.0914%
the middle country, of 9 measured · 9 members
Afghanistan3.6330%India18.7455%Lowest and highest reading in Southern Asia.
- Western Africa
7.1122%
the middle country, of 16 measured · 16 members
Cabo Verde2.4000%
Mauritania13.6000%Lowest and highest reading in Western Africa.
- South-eastern Asia
8.2896%
the middle country, of 9 measured · 11 members
Vietnam4.4000%
Malaysia11.0000%Lowest and highest reading in South-eastern Asia.
- Eastern Asia
4 of 8 measured — too few for a middle: China, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea.
South Korea0.2000%
Mongolia2.7000%Lowest and highest reading in Eastern Asia.
- Eastern Europe
3 of 10 measured — too few for a middle: Belarus, Bulgaria, Poland.
Poland0.8008%Bulgaria5.9000%Lowest and highest reading in Eastern Europe.
- Melanesia
2 of 5 measured — too few for a middle: Fiji, Solomon Islands.
Fiji4.5975%Solomon Islands8.4654%Lowest and highest reading in Melanesia.
- Micronesia
3 of 7 measured — too few for a middle: Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Nauru.
Nauru1.3158%
Marshall Islands3.5462%Lowest and highest reading in Micronesia.
- Northern America
1 of 4 measured — too few for a middle: United States.
United States0.1000%Lowest and highest reading in Northern America.
- Polynesia
3 of 7 measured — too few for a middle: Samoa, Tonga, Tuvalu.
Tonga1.0607%
Samoa3.0568%Lowest and highest reading in Polynesia.
- Southern Africa
3 of 5 measured — too few for a middle: Eswatini, Lesotho, South Africa.
Lesotho1.6424%
South Africa3.6000%Lowest and highest reading in Southern Africa.
- Western Europe
2 of 9 measured — too few for a middle: Belgium, Germany.
Germany0.5000%
Belgium0.8000%Lowest and highest reading in Western Europe.
03The whole field at once
The spread
134 countries, one dot each, on one scale — further right is a higher value. Half the countries are above 3.5089%; a quarter are above 6.4049%, and a quarter below 1.7701%. The bar in each row marks that continent’s middle country.
04All 163 ever measured
Every country
In order, highest value first — position 1 is the highest value, the way UNICEF, WHO and World Bank Group (Joint Malnutrition Estimates)’s own tables read. “=” marks a position shared with another country. UNICEF, WHO and World Bank Group (Joint Malnutrition Estimates) ranks nobody on this measure; the position is derived here by ordering the published values. Wasting rises and falls with the seasons, so a survey taken in the lean months before a harvest reads higher than one taken after it — two countries' figures can differ partly because of when their surveys ran. Each row shows its survey year, and readings more than ten years older than the newest are listed but left out of comparisons.
Showing 25 of 163 countries
Values for the 2024 edition.
05In this edition
Child wasting in records
The extremes of the statistic. A record reached by more than one country names none of them.
Highest reading
18.7455%
Children under 5 who are wasted (%)
UNICEF, WHO and World Bank Group (Joint Malnutrition Estimates) · 2024
Lowest reading
0.1000%
Children under 5 who are wasted (%)
UNICEF, WHO and World Bank Group (Joint Malnutrition Estimates) · 2024
06The measure
About child wasting
Wasting is when a child is too thin for their height — acute undernutrition, the kind that hunger and illness cause within weeks. It is the form of malnutrition most likely to kill a child, and unlike stunting it can be reversed quickly with treatment.
What the number is: Children under 5 who are wasted (%).
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 and Development & Human Capital, but does not help decide any Country Index standing.
Health & WellbeingDevelopment & Human CapitalWhich statistics vote, and why
Moves with
Where child wasting is higher, these tend to be higher too.
- Stunting Prevalence in Children Under FiveKeyUNICEF, WHO and World Bank Group (Joint Malnutrition Estimates) · 134 countries in commonρ 0.61
- Stillbirth RateUN IGME · 134 countries in commonρ 0.60
- Low Birthweight PrevalenceUNICEF and WHO (Joint Low Birthweight Estimates) · 108 countries in commonρ 0.58
Moves against
Where child wasting is higher, these tend to be lower.
- World Energy Trilemma IndexKeyWorld Energy Council · 88 countries in commonρ −0.66
- Anthropic AI Usage IndexAnthropic · 84 countries in commonρ −0.61
- Inequality-adjusted Human Development IndexUNDP Human Development Report Office · 121 countries in commonρ −0.61
Rank correlation (ρ, from −1 to 1) across countries, on each statistic’s newest edition, out of 283 statistics sharing at least 80 countries with this one. Two statistics that move together do not cause each other.
08Keep reading
Explore further
The data, edition by edition
The countries at either end
More from UNICEF, WHO and World Bank Group (Joint Malnutrition Estimates)
09Questions
Child wasting: questions and answers
Which country has the lowest child wasting?
United States, at 0.1000%, among the 134 countries compared in the 2024 edition.
Which country has the highest child wasting?
India, at 18.7455%, among the 134 countries compared in the 2024 edition.
How many countries does the Wasting Prevalence in Children Under Five cover?
134 in the 2024 edition, and 163 at least once across all editions.
What is the world average child wasting?
This site does not calculate a world average, which would depend on how countries are weighted. In the middle country of the 134 compared in the 2024 edition, the figure was 3.5089%.
Is this UNICEF, WHO and World Bank Group (Joint Malnutrition Estimates)’s own ranking?
No. UNICEF, WHO and World Bank Group (Joint Malnutrition Estimates) 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 Wasting Prevalence in Children Under Five published?
This site holds one edition, describing 2024.
Where does the data come from, and can I download it?
From UNICEF, WHO and World Bank Group (Joint Malnutrition Estimates), under CC BY 3.0 IGO. A Joint Malnutrition Estimate of UNICEF, WHO and the World Bank, read from UNICEF's warehouse. Where a country has several surveys, UNICEF's own priority flag decides which is used. 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
Wasting Prevalence in Children Under Five — UNICEF, WHO and World Bank Group (Joint Malnutrition Estimates)
A Joint Malnutrition Estimate of UNICEF, WHO and the World Bank, read from UNICEF's warehouse. Where a country has several surveys, UNICEF's own priority flag decides which is used.
Newest edition
Report year 2024Data year not recorded
Cite the source as: UNICEF, WHO and World Bank Group. Joint Child Malnutrition Estimates. New York, Geneva and Washington, DC.
Licence: CC BY 3.0 IGO, checked 2026-09-29.
How this page reads the numbers
- UNICEF, WHO and World Bank Group (Joint Malnutrition Estimates) 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 2014 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.
- United States — Stefano Brivio, CC BY 2.0
- South Korea — Unknown author, CC BY-SA 2.0
- Chile — Alexandre Buisse ( ), CC BY-SA 3.0
Cite this page
Nations Inquiry (2026). Child wasting by country: Wasting Prevalence in Children Under Five, data from UNICEF, WHO and World Bank Group (Joint Malnutrition Estimates). https://nationsinquiry.com/statistics/wasting