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

Key figures

Since 1992 it is down 5.1 percentage points from 37.4% 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 underweight, weight for age, female (% of children under 5) fell 0.2 percentage points on 2021 (from 32.5% to 32.3%).

Across the 13 yearly changes before that (2007 to 2021), the average change was −0.65 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 3.64 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.1 standard deviations above 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 6.3 percentage points in 2010 and the biggest yearly fall was 7.5 percentage points in 2019. 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 there is no clear straight-line trend: a straight line explains 2% of the movement over 9 observed years, so the value is moving around more than it is heading anywhere.

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

How it compares

In 2022, Niger had the 1st highest value of the 10 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 Niger in the 2022 ranking

• Bangladesh — 2nd of 10: 21.8%
• Nepal — 3rd of 10: 20.4%
• Mauritania — 4th of 10: 19.8%

What this measures

Prevalence of underweight, female, is the percentage of girls 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 19 values

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

• Burkina Faso — 14.8% (2021)
• Burundi — 25.6% (2024)
• Chad — 16.7% (2022)
• Ghana — 10.1% (2022)
• Kenya — 8.9% (2022)
• Malawi — 11.4% (2020)
• Mali — 13.3% (2024)
• Mauritania — 19.8% (2022)
• 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)

Reading data like this

• Where to find free public data, and how to check it before you trust it — 2 min read
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Questions people ask

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

32.3% in 2022, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 1992?

It is down 5.1 percentage points from 37.4% in 1992. The highest value was 46.1% in 1998 and the lowest 29.3% in 2019.

How does Niger rank?

1st highest of 10 economies with data for 2022.

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

Source

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