Child Welfare · Southern Africa

South Africa Child Wasting

3.6%as of 2017Reported+46.9% vs 2016

Share of children under 5 who are wasted (low weight-for-height), a marker of acute undernutrition. Source: UNICEF. Retrieved 15 Aug 2026.

Trend

2008 – 2017 · UNICEF

History

most recent 4 periods · UNICEF
PeriodChild Wasting
20173.6%
20162.5%
20153.4%
20085.4%

Child Wasting across Africa

All 54 countries →
CountryChild WastingPeriod
Nigeria11.6%2021
Kenya4.5%2022
Egypt3.3%2021
Ghana5.8%2022
Ethiopia6.8%2019
Tanzania3.1%2022

Child Wasting in every African country

7 countries carry a recent wasting prevalence among children under 5 figure. Each opens its own page with the history, the source and the API request.

Western Africa

Eastern Africa

Middle Africa

Southern Africa

Every indicator we hold for South Africa

170 of 207 indicators carry a figure for South Africa, grouped by topic.

Economy

Development

Demographics

Child Welfare

Food Security

Agriculture

Humanitarian

Technology

Infrastructure

Climate