Child Welfare · Africa ranking
Child Stunting by African country
Burundi has the highest stunting prevalence among children under 5 of any African country, at 55.3%, ahead of Niger and Eritrea.
Share of children under 5 who are stunted (low height-for-age), a marker of chronic undernutrition. 54 of 54 countries, ranked · UNICEF CHILD WELFARE, 2024.
Burundi
Niger
EritreaBy region
Full ranking
| # | Country | Child Stunting | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Burundi | 55.3% | |
| 2 | Niger | 48.3% | |
| 3 | Eritrea | 48% | |
| 4 | Angola | 47.7% | |
| 5 | Democratic Republic of the Congo | 44.1% | |
| 6 | Central African Republic | 38.9% | |
| 7 | Madagascar | 38.4% | |
| 8 | Mozambique | 37% | |
| 9 | Ethiopia | 35.5% | |
| 10 | Sudan | 35.4% | |
| 11 | Lesotho | 35% | |
| 12 | Nigeria | 33.8% | |
| 13 | Benin | 33.2% | |
| 14 | Malawi | 33.2% | |
| 15 | Zambia | 32.3% | |
| 16 | Chad | 31.5% | |
| 17 | South Sudan | 30% | |
| 18 | Tanzania | 29.9% | |
| 19 | Rwanda | 29.8% | |
| 20 | Guinea-Bissau | 28.3% | |
| 21 | Cameroon | 27.2% | |
| 22 | Liberia | 26.9% | |
| 23 | Guinea | 26.6% | |
| 24 | Sierra Leone | 25.2% | |
| 25 | South Africa | 24.4% | |
| 26 | Somalia | 23.9% | |
| 27 | Zimbabwe | 23.7% | |
| 28 | Uganda | 23.5% | |
| 29 | Mali | 23.2% | |
| 30 | Togo | 23% | |
| 31 | Mauritania | 21.5% | |
| 32 | Botswana | 21% | |
| 33 | Djibouti | 20.9% | |
| 34 | Cote d'Ivoire | 20.3% | |
| 35 | Burkina Faso | 19.5% | |
| 36 | Eswatini | 18.9% | |
| 37 | Kenya | 17.9% | |
| 38 | Comoros | 17.4% | |
| 39 | Senegal | 17.2% | |
| 40 | Equatorial Guinea | 17.1% | |
| 41 | Namibia | 16.4% | |
| 42 | Republic of the Congo | 16.3% | |
| 43 | Ghana | 15.6% | |
| 44 | Gambia | 14% | |
| 45 | Gabon | 13.7% | |
| 46 | Morocco | 13.7% | |
| 47 | Egypt | 12.9% | |
| 48 | Sao Tome and Principe | 10% | |
| 49 | Libya | 9.2% | |
| 50 | Algeria | 8.9% | |
| 51 | Tunisia | 8.9% | |
| 52 | Mauritius | 7.8% | |
| 53 | Seychelles | 6.2% | |
| 54 | Cabo Verde | 5.3% |
Angola
Democratic Republic of the Congo
Central African Republic
Madagascar
Mozambique
Ethiopia
Sudan
Lesotho
Nigeria
Benin
Malawi
Zambia
Chad
South Sudan
Tanzania
Rwanda
Guinea-Bissau
Cameroon
Liberia
Guinea
Sierra Leone
South Africa
Somalia
Zimbabwe
Uganda
Mali
Togo
Mauritania
Botswana
Djibouti
Cote d'Ivoire
Burkina Faso
Eswatini
Kenya
Comoros
Senegal
Equatorial Guinea
Namibia
Republic of the Congo
Ghana
Gambia
Gabon
Morocco
Egypt
Sao Tome and Principe
Libya
Algeria
Tunisia
Mauritius
Seychelles
Cabo VerdeGet this ranking via API
One call to /v1/data returns the latest Child Stunting figure for every country you pass — JSON, with source metadata on each observation.
curl "https://api.africa-api.com/v1/data?metric_key=stunting_under5_pct&latest=true&country_codes=NG,KE,ZA,EG" \
-H "Authorization: Bearer $AFRICA_API_KEY"Cite or republish this ranking
Data: Africa API — UNICEF CHILD WELFARE, 2024. Free to republish with a link to this page. Pull the live figures via the API above so your version never goes stale.
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Frequently asked questions
Which African country has the highest stunting prevalence among children under 5?
Burundi has the highest stunting prevalence among children under 5 in Africa at 55.3% (2024), followed by Niger and Eritrea.
Which African country has the lowest stunting prevalence among children under 5?
Cabo Verde has the lowest stunting prevalence among children under 5 of the 54 African countries with data, at 5.3% (2024).
How many African countries report Child Stunting data?
54 of 54 African countries have a recent Child Stunting figure in the Africa API. Each value links to the country's full series with source and history.
How do I get this ranking via API?
Call GET /v1/data?metric_key=stunting_under5_pct&latest=true with the country codes you need and a free Africa API key — the response returns the latest value per country as JSON.
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