Percentage of children under 5 years of age who are stunted (modelled) in Afghanistan
Afghanistan: Percentage of children under 5 years of age who are stunted (modelled) was 42 % in 2024. ▼ Falling
Percentage of children under 5 years of age who are stunted (modelled) in Afghanistan, 2000–2024
Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Measured in %.
Analysis
Afghanistan recorded 42 % for percentage of children under 5 years of age who are stunted (modelled) in 2024.
That represents a change of up 1.0% on the previous year and down 1.2% over ten years.
Over the whole period, percentage of children under 5 years of age who are stunted (modelled) in Afghanistan peaked at 55.5 % in 2000 and was at its lowest, 40.7 %, in 2020.
That places Afghanistan 8th out of 147 countries with data for 2024, putting it in the top 10%.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 25 years of available data.
Percentage of children under 5 years of age who are stunted (modelled) in Afghanistan, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 55.5 % | — |
| 2001 | 55.2 % | -0.5% |
| 2002 | 54.4 % | -1.4% |
| 2003 | 53.4 % | -1.8% |
| 2004 | 52.4 % | -1.9% |
| 2005 | 51.3 % | -2.1% |
| 2006 | 50.3 % | -1.9% |
| 2007 | 49 % | -2.6% |
| 2008 | 47.8 % | -2.4% |
| 2009 | 46.5 % | -2.7% |
| 2010 | 45.3 % | -2.6% |
| 2011 | 44.3 % | -2.2% |
| 2012 | 43.5 % | -1.8% |
| 2013 | 42.9 % | -1.4% |
| 2014 | 42.5 % | -0.9% |
| 2015 | 42.2 % | -0.7% |
| 2016 | 41.9 % | -0.7% |
| 2017 | 41.5 % | -1.0% |
| 2018 | 41.2 % | -0.7% |
| 2019 | 40.9 % | -0.7% |
| 2020 | 40.7 % | -0.5% |
| 2021 | 40.8 % | +0.2% |
| 2022 | 41.1 % | +0.7% |
| 2023 | 41.6 % | +1.2% |
| 2024 | 42 % | +1.0% |
Afghanistan compared with similar countries
- Afghanistan's 42 % is above the median for low income countries, which is 32.35 %, 1.3× the median. (22 countries reporting)
- Afghanistan's 42 % is above the median for Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan, which is 9.4 %, 4.5× the median. (19 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 51.58 % | 46.5 % | 55.5 % | 10 |
| 2010s | 42.62 % | 40.9 % | 45.3 % | 10 |
| 2020s | 41.24 % | 40.7 % | 42 % | 5 |
Countries ranked near Afghanistan
- 5 Papua New Guinea 47.6 % compare
- 6 Lao People's Democratic Republic 29.9 % compare
- 6 United Republic of Tanzania 29.9 % compare
- 6 Yemen 47.4 % compare
- 7 Guatemala 44.6 % compare
- 8 Syrian Arab Republic 23.5 % compare
- 9 Central African Republic 38.9 % compare
- 10 Madagascar 38.4 % compare
- 11 Mozambique 37 % compare
- 11 Viet Nam 19.2 % compare
More agriculture & rural data for Afghanistan
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added (current US$), annual 2.31 % change on previous year (2024)
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added (current US$), per 0.3429 current US$ per US$ of GDP (2024)
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added (current US$), per 142.96 current US$ per person (2024)
- Rural population, annual growth rate 2.47 % change on previous year (2025)
- Rural population, per unit of GDP 0.0018 units per US$ of GDP (2024)
- Rural population, per capita 0.7406 units per person (2025)
- Share of GDP from agriculture 34.3% (2024)
- Agriculture as a share of GDP vs. GDP per capita 34.3% (2024)
- Agricultural raw materials exports 21.0% (2019)
- Agricultural raw materials imports 1.8% (2019)
Frequently asked questions
- What is percentage of children under 5 years of age who are stunted (modelled) in Afghanistan?
- Percentage of children under 5 years of age who are stunted (modelled) in Afghanistan was 42 % in 2024, according to Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
- What is the highest percentage of children under 5 years of age who are stunted (modelled) recorded in Afghanistan?
- The highest recorded value was 55.5 % in 2000.
- What is the lowest percentage of children under 5 years of age who are stunted (modelled) recorded in Afghanistan?
- The lowest recorded value was 40.7 % in 2020.
- How does Afghanistan rank for percentage of children under 5 years of age who are stunted (modelled)?
- Afghanistan ranks 8th out of 147 countries with data for 2024.
- Is percentage of children under 5 years of age who are stunted (modelled) rising or falling in Afghanistan?
- Over the last ten years it is down 1.2%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Afghanistan data come from?
- The figures come from Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, published as part of Percentage of children under 5 years of age who are stunted (modelled estimates) (percent) — Value. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 25 observations, free to reuse under CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO (FAO).
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.