Peru: Diarrhea treatment (% of children under 5 who received ORS packet)

Key figures

What the numbers say

In 2020, Peru's diarrhea treatment (% of children under 5 who received ORS packet) fell 11.2 percentage points on 2019 (from 33.6% to 22.4%).

Across the 12 yearly changes before that (1987 to 2019), the average change was +1.33 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 3.88 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 3.2 standard deviations below that average, so it was unusually large compared with the rest of the record.

On record, the biggest yearly rise was 12 percentage points in 1987 and the biggest yearly fall was 11.2 percentage points in 2020. The numbers show how large and when, not why; for the cause, look at what happened in that country in those years.

From 2011 to 2020 there is no clear straight-line trend: a straight line explains less than 1% of the movement over 10 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.

Closest to Peru in the 2020 ranking

• Malawi — 1st of 3: 51.4%
• Rwanda — 2nd of 3: 28%

What this measures

Percentage of children under age 5 with diarrhea in the two weeks preceding the survey who received oral rehydration salts (ORS packets or pre-packaged ORS fluids).

Limitations: The indicator does not assess the severity of the diarrhea.

Regional and income-group figures are computed by the World Bank as a weighted average.

All 20 values

Diarrhea treatment (% of children under 5 who received ORS packet) in nearby economies

• Bolivia — 40% (2016)
• Dominican Republic — 53.2% (2019)

More health data for Peru

• Population ages 00-04, female (% of female population) — 7.56% (2025)
• Population ages 00-04, male (% of male population) — 7.93% (2025)
• Population ages 0-14, female — 4.01 million (2025)
• Population ages 0-14, female (% of female population) — 23.06% (2025)
• Population ages 0-14, male — 4.16 million (2025)
• Population ages 0-14, male (% of male population) — 24.17% (2025)
• Population ages 0-14, total — 8.16 million (2025)
• Population ages 0-14 (% of total population) — 23.61% (2025)
• Population ages 05-09, female (% of female population) — 7.64% (2025)
• Population ages 05-09, male (% of male population)

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Questions people ask

What is Peru's diarrhea treatment (% of children under 5 who received ORS packet)?

22.4% in 2020, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 1986?

It is up 16.4 percentage points from 6% in 1986. The highest value was 34.6% in 2016 and the lowest 6% in 1986.

Is the latest change in diarrhea treatment (% of children under 5 who received ORS packet) unusual for Peru?

In 2020, Peru's diarrhea treatment (% of children under 5 who received ORS packet) fell 11.2 percentage points on 2019 (from 33.6% to 22.4%). Across the 12 yearly changes before that (1987 to 2019), the average change was +1.33 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 3.88 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 3.2 standard deviations below that average, so it was unusually large compared with the rest of the record.

Source

World Bank, World Development Indicators, indicator SH.STA.ORTH, licensed CC BY 4.0. Original source: State of the World's Children, UN Children's Fund (UNICEF); Childinfo, UN Children's Fund (UNICEF); Demographic and Health Surveys, Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) Program 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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