Child Welfare · Africa ranking
Child Wasting by African country
South Sudan has the highest wasting prevalence among children under 5 of any African country, at 22.7% — 1.4× Sudan's 16.3%.
Share of children under 5 who are wasted (low weight-for-height), a marker of acute undernutrition. 53 of 54 countries, ranked · UNICEF CHILD WELFARE, 2010.
Latest available year varies by country (2007–2024); each row shows its year, and values more than 5 years behind the most recent are marked ⚠.
South Sudan
Sudan
EritreaBy region
Full ranking
| # | Country | Child Wasting | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | South Sudan | 22.7% ⚠ ’10 | |
| 2 | Sudan | 16.3% ⚠ ’14 | |
| 3 | Eritrea | 14.6% ⚠ ’10 | |
| 4 | Somalia | 14.3% ⚠ ’09 | |
| 5 | Mauritania | 13.6% | |
| 6 | Djibouti | 12.1% | |
| 7 | Nigeria | 11.6% | |
| 8 | Niger | 10.9% | |
| 9 | Senegal | 10.2% | |
| 10 | Burkina Faso | 9.7% | |
| 11 | Benin | 8.3% | |
| 12 | Republic of the Congo | 8.2% ⚠ ’14 | |
| 13 | Cote d'Ivoire | 8.1% | |
| 14 | Burundi | 7.8% | |
| 15 | Chad | 7.8% | |
| 16 | Botswana | 7.3% ⚠ ’07 | |
| 17 | Madagascar | 7.2% | |
| 18 | Democratic Republic of the Congo | 7.2% | |
| 19 | Namibia | 7.1% ⚠ ’13 | |
| 20 | Ethiopia | 6.8% ⚠ ’19 | |
| 21 | Guinea | 6.4% | |
| 22 | Sierra Leone | 6.3% | |
| 23 | Guinea-Bissau | 6% ⚠ ’14 | |
| 24 | Ghana | 5.8% | |
| 25 | Togo | 5.7% ⚠ ’17 | |
| 26 | Mali | 5.4% | |
| 27 | Central African Republic | 5.2% | |
| 28 | Zimbabwe | 5.1% | |
| 29 | Gambia | 5.1% | |
| 30 | Comoros | 5.1% | |
| 31 | Angola | 4.9% ⚠ ’15 | |
| 32 | Kenya | 4.5% | |
| 33 | Seychelles | 4.3% ⚠ ’12 | |
| 34 | Cameroon | 4.3% ⚠ ’18 | |
| 35 | Zambia | 4.2% ⚠ ’18 | |
| 36 | Sao Tome and Principe | 4.1% ⚠ ’19 | |
| 37 | Mozambique | 3.8% | |
| 38 | South Africa | 3.6% ⚠ ’17 | |
| 39 | Libya | 3.5% | |
| 40 | Gabon | 3.4% | |
| 41 | Liberia | 3.4% ⚠ ’19 | |
| 42 | Egypt | 3.3% | |
| 43 | Uganda | 3.2% | |
| 44 | Tanzania | 3.1% | |
| 45 | Equatorial Guinea | 3.1% ⚠ ’11 | |
| 46 | Algeria | 2.7% ⚠ ’19 | |
| 47 | Cabo Verde | 2.4% ⚠ ’18 | |
| 48 | Morocco | 2.4% ⚠ ’19 | |
| 49 | Tunisia | 2.1% ⚠ ’18 | |
| 50 | Eswatini | 1.8% | |
| 51 | Lesotho | 1.6% | |
| 52 | Malawi | 1.5% ⚠ ’18 | |
| 53 | Rwanda | 1.1% |
Somalia
Mauritania
Djibouti
Nigeria
Niger
Senegal
Burkina Faso
Benin
Republic of the Congo
Cote d'Ivoire
Burundi
Chad
Botswana
Madagascar
Democratic Republic of the Congo
Namibia
Ethiopia
Guinea
Sierra Leone
Guinea-Bissau
Ghana
Togo
Mali
Central African Republic
Zimbabwe
Gambia
Comoros
Angola
Kenya
Seychelles
Cameroon
Zambia
Sao Tome and Principe
Mozambique
South Africa
Libya
Gabon
Liberia
Egypt
Uganda
Tanzania
Equatorial Guinea
Algeria
Cabo Verde
Morocco
Tunisia
Eswatini
Lesotho
Malawi
RwandaGet this ranking via API
One call to /v1/data returns the latest Child Wasting figure for every country you pass — JSON, with source metadata on each observation.
curl "https://api.africa-api.com/v1/data?metric_key=wasting_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, 2010. 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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Drop this chart into your article or site — it stays live as the data updates. Paste the snippet anywhere HTML is allowed (a citation link is included).
Frequently asked questions
Which African country has the highest wasting prevalence among children under 5?
South Sudan has the highest wasting prevalence among children under 5 in Africa at 22.7% (2010), followed by Sudan and Eritrea.
Which African country has the lowest wasting prevalence among children under 5?
Rwanda has the lowest wasting prevalence among children under 5 of the 53 African countries with data, at 1.1% (2020).
How many African countries report Child Wasting data?
53 of 54 African countries have a Child Wasting figure in the Africa API, each from the latest year available for that country (which can differ between countries, here 2007–2024). Every value links to its full series with source and history.
How do I get this ranking via API?
Call GET /v1/data?metric_key=wasting_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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