Number of children under 5 years affected by wasting (million) — Value by country
The Suite of Food Security Indicators presents the core set of food security indicators. Following the recommendation of experts gathered in the Committee on World Food Security (CFS) Round Table on hunger measurement, hosted at FAO headquarters in September 2011, an initial set of indicators aiming to capture...
What the numbers show
Number of children under 5 years affected by wasting (million) — Value is currently reported for 44 countries. The highest value is 22.2 million No in India; the lowest is 0.1 million No in Zimbabwe.
The median across all reporting countries is 0.2 million No, and the mean is 0.9682 million No.
The gap between the highest and lowest reporting country is a factor of about 222.
Over the past decade 6 countries rose and 21 fell. The largest increase was in Benin (up 100.0%), and the largest decrease in Mali (down 60.0%).
Number of children under 5 years affected by wasting (million) — Value: full country ranking
| # | Country | Latest | Year | 10-year change | Trend |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | India | 22.2 million No | 2020 | down 16.9% | falling |
| 2 | Nigeria | 3.9 million No | 2021 | up 25.8% | rising |
| 3 | Indonesia | 1.9 million No | 2023 | down 42.4% | falling |
| 4 | China | 1.7 million No | 2017 | down 19.0% | falling |
| 4 | Bangladesh | 1.7 million No | 2022 | down 5.6% | falling |
| 4 | Democratic Republic of the Congo | 1.4 million No | 2023 | up 27.3% | falling |
| 5 | Viet Nam | 0.3 million No | 2023 | down 40.0% | falling |
| 6 | Ethiopia | 1.2 million No | 2019 | down 20.0% | falling |
| 7 | Yemen | 1 million No | 2022 | up 66.7% | rising |
| 8 | Philippines | 0.6 million No | 2021 | down 33.3% | falling |
| 9 | Niger | 0.5 million No | 2022 | unchanged | rising |
| 10 | Egypt | 0.4 million No | 2021 | down 50.0% | rising |
| 11 | Chad | 0.3 million No | 2022 | down 25.0% | rising |
| 11 | Burkina Faso | 0.3 million No | 2021 | unchanged | flat |
| 11 | Malaysia | 0.3 million No | 2022 | up 50.0% | flat |
| 11 | Myanmar | 0.3 million No | 2018 | down 25.0% | falling |
| 11 | Madagascar | 0.3 million No | 2021 | up 50.0% | falling |
| 11 | Kenya | 0.3 million No | 2022 | down 25.0% | falling |
| 17 | Russian Federation | 0.2 million No | 2005 | down 33.3% | falling |
| 17 | Burundi | 0.2 million No | 2024 | unchanged | rising |
| 17 | Mozambique | 0.2 million No | 2022 | down 33.3% | falling |
| 17 | Benin | 0.2 million No | 2021 | up 100.0% | rising |
| 17 | Uganda | 0.2 million No | 2022 | down 33.3% | falling |
| 17 | Mali | 0.2 million No | 2024 | down 60.0% | flat |
| 17 | Cameroon | 0.2 million No | 2018 | unchanged | flat |
| 17 | Ghana | 0.2 million No | 2022 | unchanged | falling |
| 17 | Thailand | 0.2 million No | 2022 | down 33.3% | flat |
| 17 | Sri Lanka | 0.2 million No | 2024 | down 50.0% | falling |
| 17 | Nepal | 0.2 million No | 2022 | down 33.3% | falling |
| 17 | Iraq | 0.2 million No | 2018 | down 33.3% | falling |
| 17 | Senegal | 0.2 million No | 2023 | unchanged | flat |
| 17 | Cambodia | 0.2 million No | 2021 | unchanged | falling |
| 31 | Mauritania | 0.1 million No | 2022 | unchanged | flat |
| 31 | Mexico | 0.1 million No | 2022 | down 50.0% | volatile |
| 31 | Malawi | 0.1 million No | 2020 | unchanged | flat |
| 31 | Saudi Arabia | 0.1 million No | 2020 | unchanged | volatile |
| 31 | Sierra Leone | 0.1 million No | 2021 | unchanged | flat |
| 31 | Haiti | 0.1 million No | 2023 | unchanged | flat |
| 31 | Guinea | 0.1 million No | 2022 | down 50.0% | falling |
| 31 | Togo | 0.1 million No | 2017 | unchanged | flat |
| 31 | Algeria | 0.1 million No | 2019 | unchanged | falling |
| 31 | Tajikistan | 0.1 million No | 2023 | unchanged | falling |
| 31 | Central African Republic | 0.1 million No | 2018 | unchanged | flat |
| 31 | Zimbabwe | 0.1 million No | 2024 | unchanged | flat |
Regions and income groups
Aggregates are excluded from the country ranking above so that a region can never outrank a country.
- World 42.8 million No
- Asia 30 million No
- Lower-middle-income economies 29.3 million No
- Least Developed Countries (LDCs) 11.4 million No
- Central Asia and Southern Asia 24.6 million No
- Middle Africa 2 million No
- Southern Asia 24.4 million No
- Africa 11.7 million No
- United Republic of Tanzania 0.3 million No
- Sub-Saharan Africa 10.2 million No
- Low Income Food Deficit Countries (LIFDCs) 9.2 million No
- Small island developing states (SIDS) 0.2 million No
- Low-income economies 7.5 million No
- Democratic People's Republic of Korea 0.1 million No
- Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of) 0.1 million No
- Lao People's Democratic Republic 0.1 million No
- Western Africa 4.4 million No
- Eastern Asia and South-eastern Asia 4.4 million No
- Land Locked Developing Countries (LLDCs) 4.3 million No
- Eastern Africa 3.6 million No
- South-Eastern Asia 3.6 million No
- Upper-middle-income economies 3.2 million No
- Western Asia and Northern Africa 2.5 million No
- Northern Africa 1.5 million No
- Western Asia 1 million No
- Eastern Asia 0.9 million No
- Latin America and the Caribbean 0.6 million No
- Côte d'Ivoire 0.4 million No
- South America 0.4 million No
- High-income economies 0.3 million No
- Southern Africa 0.2 million No
- Central Asia 0.2 million No
- United States of America 0.1 million No
- Oceania excluding Australia and New Zealand 0.1 million No
- Central America 0.1 million No
- Caribbean 0.1 million No
- Northern America 0.1 million No
About this data
The Suite of Food Security Indicators presents the core set of food security indicators. Following the recommendation of experts gathered in the Committee on World Food Security (CFS) Round Table on hunger measurement, hosted at FAO headquarters in September 2011, an initial set of indicators aiming to capture various aspects of food insecurity is presented here. The choice of the indicators has been informed by expert judgement and the availability of data with sufficient coverage to enable comparisons across regions and over time. Many of these indicators are produced and published elsewhere by FAO and other international organizations. They are reported here in a single database with the aim of building a wide food security information system. More indicators will be added to this set as more data will become available. Indicators are classified along the four dimensions of food security -- availability, access, utilization and stability.