Countries by Prevalence of stunting, height for age (modeled estimate, % of children under 5)

Burundi ranks first in child stunting prevalence at 55.3%, meaning more than half of children under age 5 fall more than two standard deviations below the international height-for-age median. At the opposite end, Poland records the lowest prevalence at 1.0%, a gap of 54.3 percentage points. This range reflects extreme variation in child nutritional status across 162 countries.

Population & Health category

Ranking 2024

Values shown in %.

Countries by Prevalence of stunting, height for age (modeled estimate, % of children under 5)
Rank	Country	%
1	Burundi	55.30
2	Niger	48.30
3	Eritrea	48.00
4	Angola	47.70
5	Papua New Guinea	47.60
6	Yemen	47.40
7	Timor-Leste	45.40
8	Guatemala	44.60
9	DR Congo	44.10
10	Afghanistan	42.00
11	Central African Republic	38.90
12	Madagascar	38.40
13	Mozambique	37.00
14	Ethiopia	35.50
15	Sudan	35.40
16	Lesotho	35.00
17	Nigeria	33.80
18	Pakistan	33.60
19	Benin	33.20
19	Malawi	33.20
21	India	32.90
22	Zambia	32.30
23	Chad	31.50
24	Vanuatu	31.00
25	Marshall Islands	30.00
25	South Sudan	30.00
27	Laos	29.90
27	Tanzania	29.90
29	Rwanda	29.80
29	Solomon Islands	29.80
31	Guinea-Bissau	28.30
32	Philippines	27.70
33	Cameroon	27.20
34	Liberia	26.90
35	Guinea	26.60
36	Nepal	26.00
37	Sierra Leone	25.20
38	Bangladesh	25.10
39	Myanmar	24.50
40	South Africa	24.40
41	Malaysia	24.30
42	Somalia	23.90
43	Zimbabwe	23.70
44	Syria	23.50
44	Uganda	23.50
46	Mali	23.20
47	Togo	23.00
48	Indonesia	22.60
49	Cambodia	22.00
50	Haiti	21.60
51	Mauritania	21.50
52	Botswana	21.00
53	Djibouti	20.90
54	Côte d'Ivoire	20.30
55	Burkina Faso	19.50
56	Vietnam	19.20
57	Eswatini	18.90
58	Bhutan	17.90
58	Honduras	17.90
58	Kenya	17.90
61	Ecuador	17.70
62	Comoros	17.40
63	Senegal	17.20
64	Equatorial Guinea	17.10
65	North Korea	16.60
66	Namibia	16.40
67	Republic of Congo	16.30
68	Nauru	16.00
69	Ghana	15.60
70	Kiribati	14.70
71	Maldives	14.20
72	Gambia	14.00
72	Panama	14.00
74	Gabon	13.70
74	Morocco	13.70
76	Mexico	13.10
76	Tajikistan	13.10
78	Egypt	12.90
78	Oman	12.90
80	Thailand	12.30
81	Belize	11.70
81	Ukraine	11.70
81	Venezuela	11.70
84	Colombia	11.60
85	Saudi Arabia	11.10
86	Kyrgyzstan	11.00
87	Argentina	10.70
87	Bolivia	10.70
89	Costa Rica	10.60
89	Peru	10.60
91	Lebanon	10.10
91	Sri Lanka	10.10
93	Sao Tome and Principe	10.00
94	Brunei	9.90
95	El Salvador	9.40
95	Iraq	9.40
97	Libya	9.20
98	Algeria	8.90
98	Brazil	8.90
98	Tunisia	8.90
101	Samoa	8.40
102	Montenegro	8.00
102	Suriname	8.00
102	Palestine	8.00
105	Bosnia and Herzegovina	7.90
106	Mauritius	7.80
106	Trinidad and Tobago	7.80
108	Jordan	7.70
109	Albania	7.40
110	Cuba	7.30
111	Fiji	7.20
112	Guyana	7.10
112	Mongolia	7.10
114	Romania	7.00
115	Jamaica	6.90
116	Azerbaijan	6.80
117	Uzbekistan	6.70
118	Turkmenistan	6.50
118	Uruguay	6.50
120	Armenia	6.20
120	Seychelles	6.20
122	Barbados	5.80
123	Dominican Republic	5.60
124	Bulgaria	5.50
124	Türkiye	5.50
126	Qatar	5.40
127	Cabo Verde	5.30
127	Tuvalu	5.30
129	Japan	5.20
130	Iran	4.80
131	Georgia	4.70
132	Bahrain	4.60
132	Serbia	4.60
134	China	4.50
134	Kuwait	4.50
136	Kazakhstan	4.40
137	Moldova	4.20
137	United States	4.20
139	North Macedonia	3.80
140	Malta	3.50
140	United Kingdom	3.50
142	Paraguay	3.20
142	Portugal	3.20
142	Turks and Caicos Islands	3.20
145	Australia	3.10
146	Singapore	2.80
146	Saint Lucia	2.80
148	Belgium	2.60
149	Czechia	2.40
150	Germany	2.20
150	Ireland	2.20
152	Greece	2.00
153	South Korea	1.80
154	Chile	1.70
154	Finland	1.70
154	Latvia	1.70
157	Lithuania	1.60
157	Netherlands	1.60
157	Tonga	1.60
160	Estonia	1.30
161	Belarus	1.10
162	Poland	1.00

Analysis

This metric measures the share of children under age 5 whose height for age is more than two standard deviations below the international reference median. Per the source definition: 'Prevalence of stunting is the percentage of children 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 2006 Child Growth Standards.' Values are expressed as percentages. The dataset covers 162 countries, all with data from within the last seven years, and 100% of datapoints are classified as official quality. No extreme outliers were detected using a three-standard-deviation threshold.

The ten highest-ranked countries by stunting prevalence are concentrated in sub-Saharan Africa and parts of Asia and the Pacific. Burundi leads at 55.3% (Rank 1), followed by Niger at 48.3% (Rank 2), Eritrea at 48.0% (Rank 3), Angola at 47.7% (Rank 4), and Papua New Guinea at 47.6% (Rank 5). Yemen ranks 6th at 47.4%, and Timor-Leste ranks 7th at 45.4%. Guatemala at 44.6% (Rank 8) is notable as the only country in Latin America within the top ten. The Democratic Republic of Congo (44.1%, Rank 9) and Afghanistan (42.0%, Rank 10) complete the top tier. All ten exceed 40%, well above the global range midpoint.

In the middle of the ranking, values span roughly 10% to 25%. Malaysia appears at Rank 41 with 24.3%, a notable placement for a upper-middle-income country by regional standards. Guatemala (Rank 8, 44.6%) stands out as a marked outlier within Latin America, where most countries rank far lower: Mexico sits at Rank 76 with 13.1%, Colombia at Rank 84 with 11.6%, and Chile at Rank 154 with just 1.7%. In Southeast Asia, the Philippines ranks 32nd at 27.7% while neighboring Vietnam ranks 56th at 19.2%. At the lower end, high-income countries in Europe cluster tightly: Germany ranks 150th at 2.2%, the Netherlands ranks 157th at 1.6%, and Estonia ranks 160th at 1.3%, just above Belarus (1.1%, Rank 161) and Poland (1.0%, Rank 162).

Several limitations apply to this metric. Stunting prevalence is a modeled estimate, meaning figures for some countries are derived from statistical models rather than direct survey measurements, which introduces uncertainty especially where survey data are sparse or dated. The metric captures height-for-age deficit at a population level but does not distinguish between causes or severities of growth faltering. Cross-country comparisons can be affected by differences in survey methodology, sample design, and timing of underlying data collection. Countries where primary data are older may show less accurate modeled estimates despite the 100% recency rate reported here. Additionally, the metric covers only children under 5 and does not capture stunting in older age groups.

Methodology

Data are drawn from the World Bank World Development Indicators, indicator code SH.STA.STNT.ME.ZS, for the reference year 2024. The metric is defined as: 'Prevalence of stunting is the percentage of children 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 2006 Child Growth Standards.' The dataset includes 162 countries, exceeding the 80-country coverage threshold. All 162 countries (100%) have data from within the last seven years. All datapoints are classified as official quality, surpassing the 70% threshold. No extreme outliers were identified using a three-standard-deviation rule. Year-over-year average change is 2.5%, well below the 50% volatility threshold. Values range from 1.0% (Poland) to 55.3% (Burundi), a spread of 5,430%. The ranking is ordered from highest to lowest prevalence, with higher values indicating worse outcomes for child nutritional status.

Sources

World Bank