Niger: Prevalence of overweight, weight for height (% of children under 5)

Key figures

Since 1992 it is down 0.8 percentage points from 2% in 1992. The World Bank has no value for 12 of the years in between; the chart leaves those gaps open rather than joining across them.

What the numbers say

In 2022, Niger's prevalence of overweight, weight for height (% of children under 5) fell 0.1 percentage points on 2021 (from 1.3% to 1.2%).

Across the 13 yearly changes before that (2007 to 2021), the average change was +0.04 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 0.37 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.4 standard deviations below that average, so it was an ordinary year: it sits within the range of normal year-to-year movement.

On record, the biggest yearly rise was 0.7 percentage points in 2012 and the biggest yearly fall was 0.6 percentage points in 2007. The numbers show how large and when, not why; for the cause, look at what happened in that country in those years.

From 2013 to 2022 the straight-line trend is upward, about 0.11 percentage points a year. A straight line explains 74% of the movement over 9 observed years.

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

Closest to Niger in the 2022 ranking

• Chad — 6th of 9: 2.2%
• Ghana — 7th of 9: 2%
• Bangladesh — 8th of 9: 1.6%

What this measures

Prevalence of overweight children is the percentage of children under age 5 whose weight for height is more than two standard deviations above the median for the international reference population of the corresponding age as established by 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 see sh.sta.owgh.me.zs for aggregation.

All 19 values

Prevalence of overweight, weight for height (% of children under 5) in nearby economies

• Burkina Faso — 1.5% (2021)
• Chad — 2.2% (2022)
• Ghana — 2% (2022)
• Kenya — 3.4% (2022)
• Malawi — 4.4% (2020)
• Mali — 1.4% (2024)
• Mauritania — 1% (2021)
• Nigeria — 1.5% (2021)
• Senegal

More health data for Niger

• Population ages 00-04, female (% of female population) — 17.57% (2025)
• Population ages 00-04, male (% of male population) — 17.56% (2025)
• Population ages 0-14, female — 6.35 million (2025)
• Population ages 0-14, female (% of female population) — 46.18% (2025)
• Population ages 0-14, male — 6.56 million (2025)
• Population ages 0-14, male (% of male population) — 46.27% (2025)
• Population ages 0-14, total — 12.91 million (2025)
• Population ages 0-14 (% of total population) — 46.23% (2025)
• Population ages 05-09, female (% of female population) — 15.19% (2025)
• Population ages 05-09, male (% of male population)

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Questions people ask

What is Niger's prevalence of overweight, weight for height (% of children under 5)?

1.2% in 2022, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 1992?

It is down 0.8 percentage points from 2% in 1992. The highest value was 2% in 1992 and the lowest 0.1% in 2008.

Is the latest change in prevalence of overweight, weight for height (% of children under 5) unusual for Niger?

In 2022, Niger's prevalence of overweight, weight for height (% of children under 5) fell 0.1 percentage points on 2021 (from 1.3% to 1.2%). Across the 13 yearly changes before that (2007 to 2021), the average change was +0.04 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 0.37 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.4 standard deviations below that average, so it was an ordinary year: it sits within the range of normal year-to-year movement.

Source

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