Prevalence of stunting, height for age, male (% of children under 5) - Country Ranking - Africa

Definition: Prevalence of stunting, male, is the percentage of boys under age 5 whose height for age is more than two standard deviations below the median for the international reference population ages 0-59 months. For children up to two years old height is measured by recumbent length. For older children height is measured by stature while standing. The data are based on the WHO's new child growth standards released in 2006.

Source: World Health Organization, Global Database on Child Growth and Malnutrition. Country-level data are unadjusted data from national surveys, and thus may not be comparable across countries.

See also: Thematic map, Time series comparison

Find indicator:
Rank Country Value Year
1 Burundi 57.50 2019
2 Eritrea 53.50 2010
3 Niger 49.60 2019
4 Mozambique 46.80 2015
5 Dem. Rep. Congo 45.60 2017
6 Madagascar 44.60 2018
7 Malawi 44.10 2019
8 Central African Republic 43.00 2019
9 Angola 41.00 2015
10 Sudan 40.30 2014
11 Ethiopia 40.20 2019
12 Chad 39.80 2019
13 Libya 39.30 2014
14 Zambia 38.30 2018
15 Rwanda 37.00 2020
16 Lesotho 36.60 2018
17 Nigeria 36.10 2020
18 Benin 35.10 2018
19 Tanzania 34.10 2018
20 Guinea 33.80 2018
21 Djibouti 33.70 2012
22 Comoros 33.10 2012
23 Sierra Leone 32.10 2019
24 Liberia 31.80 2019
25 Botswana 31.60 2007
26 Guinea-Bissau 31.40 2019
27 Cameroon 31.20 2018
28 Uganda 30.90 2016
29 Equatorial Guinea 30.30 2011
30 Kenya 29.90 2014
31 Eswatini 29.20 2014
32 Mali 29.00 2019
33 Somalia 27.70 2009
34 Zimbabwe 26.70 2019
35 Togo 26.20 2017
36 Burkina Faso 26.10 2019
37 Mauritania 25.50 2018
38 Namibia 25.10 2013
39 South Africa 25.00 2017
40 Egypt 23.60 2014
41 Côte d'Ivoire 23.30 2016
42 Congo 22.40 2014
43 Ghana 19.50 2017
44 Gabon 19.20 2012
45 Senegal 18.90 2019
46 The Gambia 18.50 2020
47 Morocco 17.40 2017
48 São Tomé and Principe 13.00 2019
49 Algeria 11.60 2019
50 Seychelles 8.90 2012
51 Tunisia 8.00 2018

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Aggregation method: Linear mixed-effect model estimates

Periodicity: Annual

General Comments: Undernourished children have lower resistance to infection and are more likely to die from common childhood ailments such as diarrheal diseases and respiratory infections. Frequent illness saps the nutritional status of those who survive, locking them int