Mexico: Prevalence of underweight, weight for age (% of children under 5)

Key figures

Since 1988 it is down 6.7 percentage points from 10.9% in 1988. The World Bank has no value for 21 of the years in between; the chart leaves those gaps open rather than joining across them.

How it compares

In 2022, Mexico had the 11th highest value of the 11 economies reporting that year. Higher is not always better: for some indicators the lowest value is the one to aim for. See the full ranking.

Closest to Mexico in the 2022 ranking

• Tanzania — 8th of 11: 11.4%
• Kenya — 9th of 11: 9.8%
• Uganda — 10th of 11: 9.7%

What this measures

Prevalence of underweight children is the percentage of children 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.

Regional and income-group figures are computed by the World Bank as a linear mixed-effect model estimates.

All 14 values

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

• Bolivia — 3.4% (2016)
• Jamaica — 2.5% (2018)
• Peru — 2.7% (2023)
• Uruguay — 1.8% (2018)

More health data for Mexico

• Population ages 00-04, female (% of female population) — 7.31% (2025)
• Population ages 00-04, male (% of male population) — 8.05% (2025)
• Population ages 0-14, female — 15.61 million (2025)
• Population ages 0-14, female (% of female population) — 22.97% (2025)
• Population ages 0-14, male — 16.17 million (2025)
• Population ages 0-14, male (% of male population) — 25.28% (2025)
• Population ages 0-14, total — 31.79 million (2025)
• Population ages 0-14 (% of total population) — 24.09% (2025)
• Population ages 05-09, female (% of female population) — 7.57% (2025)

Reading data like this

• Where to find free public data, and how to check it before you trust it — 2 min read
• Data analysis examples: 6 worked from one dataset — 3 min read
• Real change or random noise? A plain guide to reading your numbers — 2 min read

Questions people ask

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

4.2% in 2022, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 1988?

It is down 6.7 percentage points from 10.9% in 1988. The highest value was 10.9% in 1988 and the lowest 2.8% in 2012.

How does Mexico rank?

11th highest of 11 economies with data for 2022.

Where does this data come from?

The World Bank's World Development Indicators, 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….

Source

World Bank, World Development Indicators, indicator SH.STA.MALN.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.

Want to ask your own questions of data like this? Try AnalyzeIt: upload a file or ask about public data in plain words, and every figure comes with its working.