Burkina Faso: Prevalence of underweight, weight for age, male (% of children under 5)

Key figures

What the numbers say

In 2021, Burkina Faso's prevalence of underweight, weight for age, male (% of children under 5) rose 4.6 percentage points on 2020 (from 14.4% to 19%).

Across the 11 yearly changes before that (2010 to 2020), the average change was −1.15 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 2.59 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 2.2 standard deviations above that average, so it was unusually large compared with the rest of the record.

On record, the biggest yearly rise was 4.6 percentage points in 2021 and the biggest yearly fall was 4.2 percentage points in 2013. The numbers show how large and when, not why; for the cause, look at what happened in that country in those years.

From 2012 to 2021 the straight-line trend is downward, about 0.96 percentage points a year. A straight line explains 66% of the movement over 10 observed years.

Worked out from the yearly values above. How the checks work: standard deviation, z-scores and straight-line trends.

What this measures

Prevalence of underweight, male, is the percentage of boys under age 5 whose weight for age is more than two standard deviations below the median for the international reference population ages 0-59 months. The data are based on the WHO's 2006 Child Growth Standards.

Limitations: Survey estimates come with levels of uncertainty due to both sampling error and non-sampling error (e.g., measurement technical error, recording error etc.,). None of the two sources of errors have been fully taken into account for deriving estimates neither at country nor at regional or worldwide levels.

All 15 values

Prevalence of underweight, weight for age, male (% of children under 5) in nearby economies

• Burundi — 31.2% (2024)
• Chad — 19.7% (2022)
• Ghana — 13.8% (2022)
• Kenya — 10.7% (2022)
• Malawi — 14.3% (2020)
• Mali — 16.7% (2024)
• Mauritania — 25% (2022)
• Niger — 36.9% (2022)
• Senegal

More health data for Burkina Faso

• Population ages 00-04, female (% of female population) — 13.81% (2025)
• Population ages 00-04, male (% of male population) — 14.33% (2025)
• Population ages 0-14, female — 4.88 million (2025)
• Population ages 0-14, female (% of female population) — 40.41% (2025)
• Population ages 0-14, male — 5.03 million (2025)
• Population ages 0-14, male (% of male population) — 41.94% (2025)
• Population ages 0-14, total — 9.91 million (2025)
• Population ages 0-14 (% of total population) — 41.17% (2025)
• Population ages 05-09, female (% of female population) — 13.56% (2025)

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Questions people ask

What is Burkina Faso's prevalence of underweight, weight for age, male (% of children under 5)?

19% in 2021, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 1993?

It is down 12 percentage points from 31% in 1993. The highest value was 32.8% in 1999 and the lowest 14.4% in 2020.

Is the latest change in prevalence of underweight, weight for age, male (% of children under 5) unusual for Burkina Faso?

In 2021, Burkina Faso's prevalence of underweight, weight for age, male (% of children under 5) rose 4.6 percentage points on 2020 (from 14.4% to 19%). Across the 11 yearly changes before that (2010 to 2020), the average change was −1.15 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 2.59 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 2.2 standard deviations above that average, so it was unusually large compared with the rest of the record.

Source

World Bank, World Development Indicators, indicator SH.STA.MALN.MA.ZS, licensed CC BY 4.0. Original source: UNICEF, WHO, World Bank: Joint child Malnutrition Estimates (JME). Aggregation is based on UNICEF, WHO, and the World Bank harmonized dataset (adjusted, comparable data) and methodology., UN Children's Fund (UNICEF), note: Aggregation is based on UNICEF, WHO, and the World Bank harmonized dataset (a… Figures are fetched from the World Bank API and refreshed monthly; see the series on data.worldbank.org. The full definition and method are in the World Bank's metadata glossary. Comparisons use the same World Bank release.

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