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

Key figures

Since 1985 it is down 14.4 percentage points from 25.3% in 1985. The World Bank has no value for 18 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 wasting, weight for height (% of children under 5) fell 0.6 percentage points on 2021 (from 11.5% to 10.9%).

Across the 13 yearly changes before that (2007 to 2021), the average change was −0.29 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 2.33 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.1 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 3.3 percentage points in 2010 and the biggest yearly fall was 4.3 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 24% 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 2nd 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 Niger in the 2022 ranking

• Mauritania — 1st of 11: 13.6%
• Bangladesh — 3rd of 11: 10.7%
• Chad — 4th of 11: 7.8%
• Nepal — 5th of 11: 7%

What this measures

Prevalence of wasting is the proportion of children under age 5 whose weight for height is more than two standard deviations below the median for the international reference population ages 0-59 months.

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. Surveys are carried out in a specific period of the year, usually over a few months. However, this indicator can be affected by seasonality, factors related to food availability (e.g., pre-harvest periods), disease (e.g.,rainy season and diarrhoea, malaria, etc.), and natural disasters and conflicts. Hence, country-year estimates may not necessarily be comparable over time.

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

All 20 values

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

• Burkina Faso — 9.3% (2021)
• Burundi — 7.8% (2024)
• Chad — 7.8% (2022)
• Ghana — 5.8% (2022)
• Kenya — 4.5% (2022)
• Malawi — 2.6% (2020)
• Mali — 5.4% (2024)
• Mauritania — 13.6% (2022)
• Nigeria — 11.6% (2021)

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
• 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 Niger's prevalence of wasting, weight for height (% of children under 5)?

10.9% in 2022, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 1985?

It is down 14.4 percentage points from 25.3% in 1985. The highest value was 25.3% in 1985 and the lowest 9.8% in 2019.

How does Niger rank?

2nd highest of 11 economies with data for 2022.

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

In 2022, Niger's prevalence of wasting, weight for height (% of children under 5) fell 0.6 percentage points on 2021 (from 11.5% to 10.9%). Across the 13 yearly changes before that (2007 to 2021), the average change was −0.29 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 2.33 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.1 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.WAST.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.