Prevalence of wasting, weight for height, female (% of children under 5) - Country Ranking - Africa

Definition: Prevalence of wasting, female, is the proportion of girls under age 5 whose weight for height is more than two standard deviations below the median for the international reference population ages 0-59.

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 Djibouti 20.30 2012
2 Sudan 15.70 2014
3 Eritrea 13.40 2010
4 Somalia 12.60 2009
5 Chad 12.50 2019
6 Comoros 10.90 2012
7 Libya 10.10 2014
8 Mauritania 9.70 2018
9 Egypt 9.50 2014
10 Guinea 9.10 2018
11 Niger 9.00 2019
12 Mali 7.90 2019
13 Congo 7.60 2014
14 Burkina Faso 7.10 2019
14 Botswana 7.10 2007
14 Guinea-Bissau 7.10 2019
17 Senegal 6.70 2019
18 Ghana 5.90 2017
19 Dem. Rep. Congo 5.80 2017
20 Côte d'Ivoire 5.50 2016
20 Ethiopia 5.50 2019
22 Madagascar 5.30 2018
22 Nigeria 5.30 2020
22 Togo 5.30 2017
22 Namibia 5.30 2013
26 Sierra Leone 5.20 2019
27 Mozambique 4.60 2015
27 Central African Republic 4.60 2019
29 Angola 4.30 2015
29 Benin 4.30 2018
31 The Gambia 4.10 2020
32 Burundi 4.00 2019
33 Kenya 3.90 2014
34 Zambia 3.70 2018
35 Equatorial Guinea 3.60 2011
35 Cameroon 3.60 2018
37 Gabon 3.20 2012
37 Liberia 3.20 2019
37 South Africa 3.20 2017
40 Tanzania 3.00 2018
41 Uganda 2.90 2016
42 Zimbabwe 2.80 2019
42 Morocco 2.80 2017
44 Algeria 2.40 2019
45 São Tomé and Principe 2.30 2019
46 Tunisia 2.10 2018
47 Eswatini 1.70 2014
47 Lesotho 1.70 2018
49 Rwanda 1.40 2020
50 Malawi 0.80 2019

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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